Compromised Reality (rewritten)
by FutureTrunksFan94
Summary: Alibaba Saluja is far from being ordinary. He's a prince. But he's much more than the eye can tell, he's also a displaced time traveler looking for his purpose in the world, and seeking an escape from this world of magic. But will he really want to leave once he's also befriended some strange people? AU Alibaba, Alibaba is Masaomi Kida, Sociopath!Kida/Alibaba
1. Chapter 1 The golden time traveler

**A/N: It has come to my attention that I have abandoned Compromised Reality. However, I wanted to take it in a different direction-I might just tell the whole series out from Alibaba's perspective, but I will shift back and forth, from third person to first person, though the majority of the story will be told from Alibaba's perspective, as he is the "Hero" of this story, though not from his viewpoint. The title of the story comes from Broken Iris's song "Where Butterflies Never Die.**

 **Don't own the song, nor do I own the series of Magi. I don't want to make this version too close to the original series. I wanna do this my own way, so prepare for an interesting turn of events. This Alibaba is smarter, more emotionally conflicted, less heroic, more tsundere and more complex than he is in canon, so expect a Darker! Alibaba here. I won't reveal everything about him at once, rather piece by piece.**

 **Alibaba X Morgiana or Alibaba x Mikado. I am not doing Alikou. Never. Due to bad experiences with the fandom, I will not do the pairing.**

 _ **This is a Durarara! crossover with Magi, though the DRRR influence is very slight at best.**_

* * *

 **Edited: August 7th, 2017, for conciseness, cleaning up of bad sentences, and more detail added.**

Chapter One: The one called Alibaba

\

* * *

This was it.

He was going to _die._

This wasn't even remotely fair!

How could this be happening to him?

He was inches from death, feeling it grasp at his very being.

He squeezed his eyes shut, as desperate thoughts raced through his mind:

 _'_ _This can't be the end_ _. It just cannot be. No way, I refuse to believe it's happening to me. I'm going to wake up and this will just be a bad dream. I'm not going to die like this. I'm not going to go out like this. No way, no how. This just isn't possible.'_

Denial, disbelief, confusion, all were understandable emotions for the boy to possess, even so, the situation happening before his very eyes was nothing more than real. He was plummeting, through the air, at a very fast rate, to his doom.

His eyes went down to the endless stretch of water flowing out before him. Up above him, there was everything he needed. He needed to go back. Now.

"N-No..." The boy stammered, as he continued to fall.

His arm grabbed onto a nearby branch. But his grip faltered, and before he knew it, he was falling, his screams all that he could hear, filling his whole heart and mind.

"I don't want to die! Someone save me!"

The water consumed him with a huge splash, as he frantically bobbed at the surface, trying to swim. Why had he never been taught to swim-why now, of all times?

But it was no use, the water was dragging him down; sucking him in.

This was surely the end for him- _his end._

The end of _his life._

He tried to breathe, but instead, water met his lungs and then... _then all was darkness._

Much later, or whatever felt like later...the boy opened his eyes slowly, in time to feel himself covered in something.

That something...felt like...sand?

'S-sand? What the fuck?' He thought, shaking himself off, and slowly, but surely, opening his eyes. He got to his feet and looked above him.

The sky he saw was a brilliant blue, as shiny as it had ever been, but something was desperately wrong.

Where were the buildings?

The city?

He glanced around, desperately, but finding nothing before him but vast pillars of sand that seemed to stretch out for miles and miles.

The sun was awfully bright as well.

The boy swallowed, before screaming his next words.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I?"

* * *

 _5 years later_

The motion of this...thing was, interesting, to say the least.

Every time the driver pulled, the thing moved along, too, and the odd people in strange cages huddled closer together, as though by doing so, they could forget that they were in a cage at all.

Of course, he wondered why people were even in a cage to begin with, as that felt awfully weird and wrong to the young boy. Shouldn't they be let out, along with everyone else?

It was an odd thing to do, the young boy thought, as he gazed down at his golden flute, which his friend dwelled inside. His best friend. The one who had led him here.

Blue eyes as bright as the sky above scoured over the seemingly endless golden brown desert before him. "Wow, what is this called?" He asked, indicating the sand. He'd never seen such a thing before, being locked up down in that room he'd been in with Ugo-kun had made it so the young boy was totally unaware of anything most people knew about.

A woman near him chuckled, "It's called the desert, little boy."

"It's so big!" He shouted.

The woman's little child laughed and shouted.

"What's with the flute?" The little child asked, reaching out to touch it, but the boy pulled it away from him.

He was unaware of a pair of golden eyes watching the both of them and their interchange with curious eyes before their owner turned back to doing his job as the cart driver, deciding not to get involved.

He would, unfortunately, get involved.

The boy smiled mysteriously.

"This is my friend!"

"But it's only a flute," The child stated.

He shook his head. "Like I'm saying, it's my friend."

He continued looking around, studying all the golden lights circling around the people, noticing the children playing and smiling. He liked seeing all the positive lights bouncing around people, they all seemed so happy. But the lights of those people in cages seemed sad and lonely, they were all droopy. Perhaps if he touched those lights, they would cheer up?

"Hey, keep those brats quiet back there!" The person being transported, a rather obtuse noble ordered, snacking on some apples.

He glanced over at the driver, staring with cold hatred at the person he seemingly found to be in the wrong for everything.

"Hey, driver, do your job better! Let these people know they're not to make noise and disturb me while I'm eating!"

"Yes, sir, I'll be sure to inform them."

The boy, Aladdin, looked up.

He'd never heard such a flat, monotone voice before.

Aladdin noticed some golden lights circling about the driver, but there were odd dark ones, crackling quietly and circling him in an odd way. For some reason, he didn't like the dark ones, they gave him a bad feeling and he could tell Ugo-kun didn't like them, either, from the sounds he was suddenly making.

The children continued to play, regardless of the driver's commands for them to be quiet.

"You do a shitty job, worthless driver!" The fat man bellowed.

The young man driving the cart winced a little, before he turned back and chuckled, "It's all right! I know that, sir! I'll do better next time... _asshole."_

Aladdin tilted his head. What was an asshole? What did that word mean?

The cart stopped for everyone to eat.

Or so he thought, but the fat man was the only one eating. Everyone else was just looking away, as though they were used to this. The driver looked unsurprised, too, and was just looking down at the ground.

Aladdin was puzzled.

Why weren't the other people being given food, too?

Why was the fat man ignoring them as he ate all the food?

His hands reached for an apple, but the fat man slapped his hands away.

"None for you, you filthy commoner. Commoners can't eat refined nobles' food! They only eat shit from a pig's trough, right, driver?" He guffawed at his own joke and turned his piggy eyes onto the driver, who remained strangely still.

The driver remained silent, his head lowered.

"Driver, didn't you hear me?"

The young man lifted his head, smiling again, cheerfully. "Of course you're right, sir."

Aladdin knew at that instant, that this young man was... _fake._

That smile was fake. Why did the fat man believe it?

"Yes, of course, sir, everyone knows the noblemen are the wisest in all the kingdom! No one has a _greater_ amount of knowledge than you!" The boy sounded disgusted, but the nobleman laughed in response.

"Good brat you are, you know your place! You should learn from his example! You're all going to be worthless scum for the rest of your miserable existences on this planet!"

The parents hushed their children and drew them closer to themselves upon hearing that remark, and the boy tensed slightly upon hearing that, though his face remained impassive.

"You're wro-"

Suddenly, a hand was over Aladdin's mouth, silencing him.

" _Shhh_ ," A voice hissed in his ear. "Don't draw _any_ attention to yourself."

Then, Aladdin felt something cold in his hands.

He opened his eyes, in time to see one of those odd, red foods in his lap.

 _How_ had it gotten there?

Surely Ugo-kun didn't move it.

He turned to see the young man, the driver, who was not looking in his direction, while he himself was taking a bite out of something. It was the same fruit as before, Aladdin noticed.

He glanced up and then around before quietly taking small bites of the food, and chewed so slowly it was as though he were a giraffe, he just quietly ate. This boy was way too quiet and Aladdin did not like it.

"Did you-" He began, but the boy shook his head at him before turning away and continuing to eat his food.

Aladdin approached the other boy as he was eating.

The lights around this boy were very unusual. They fluttered toward him, but at the same time, the darker lights around him backed away from the Magi and burned at his touch. The darker lights didn't seem very nice, Aladdin thought, as one seemed to blaze with anger upon him being near it.

"Hey, mister, why do the lights around you look so sad?" He spoke up.

The golden-eyed youth looked at him, his eyes wide.

"Huh? What are you talking about, kid?"

"The lights around you, the golden things."

Something came across his face for a moment, before his gaze shifted back into an awkward smile.

"I _don't_ know what you're talking about. Now just shut up. You're lucky I covered for your ass back there. Don't piss that prick off."

He didn't sound very nice anymore, now he just sounded angry and irritated.

Aladdin wondered what he'd done wrong. Why had the angry boy smiled, then, if he wasn't happy at all? Was he faking it?

His gaze went over the odd-looking boy.

The boy had hair that was the color of the sun, in an unusual hairstyle, with odd things hanging off his ears, it was messy and hung in his face in a weird way. His skin was more tanned than most of the other people. He wore a long, red scarf around his neck, and a long white shirt, with a green shirt to match. There was an odd object around his waist. He had odd, white earrings on his ears.

As he gazed into the young man's eyes, he paused. The eyes that peered back at him seemed to read everything about this world. The young man before him was smart-very smart, Aladdin realized-or, was he? Some of his behavior seemed a little stupid, like the whole smiling when he wasn't happy thing.

He felt like he was being **glared** at when he stared at the boy for too long, though the look on his face was friendly and welcoming.

Aladdin shuddered at the creepy aura emanating from the teen. But despite that, the one thing the lights told him about this boy was: he was _lonely_. A very palpable loneliness resonated throughout the lights and came to him.

The boy continued eating his food and ignored Aladdin.

' _He's lonely? But why_?' Aladdin asked himself, watching as the boy dug into some food, his gaze not even resting on him. 'He seems satisfied being by himself, I mean, he blew me off earlier. Clearly, he's not wanting of any friends.'

The teen's golden eyes (what an unusual eye color, he'd _never_ seen anyone with that eye color before. It reminded him a lot of the sun. Warm, but cold. However, his eyes narrowed as he'd clearly realized Aladdin had been watching him.

"Would you quit fucking staring at me?" He snapped, glaring at him fiercely, golden eyes blazing like flames.

"I'm Aladdin! What's your name?" He asked, approaching the other boy, who backed away.

"Leave me alone. I don't care what your name is," He snapped back, folding his arms.

"Are you grouchy by nature, mister?"

The boy's eyebrow twitched.

"Look, I just want to eat in peace. Now, Aladdin, was it, kindly shut up. You don't want to deal with a man like him, okay?" He said, "He's a huge jerk."

"So are you." Aladdin replied.

The boy twitched, but didn't say anything, instead he continued biting into his fruit.

"Did you steal that fruit for me?"

The boy nodded before turning back to his food. "Kids shouldn't starve." Was his explanation, apparently.

"What is starving?" He asked.

The boy choked on his apple. "You must be new here. _Real new. It's_ when you can't find any food to eat. It's not pleasant. Now leave me alone."

Like that, the blond teen slid over, away from Aladdin.

He slid closer to the blond teen.

The blond teen slid away.

Aladdin followed.

"What _is_ your issue? Quit following me!" He snapped.

Aladdin wilted. "I just wanted...I wanted to thank you for giving me the fruit! Thank you!"

The boy's face flushed slightly before he turned away. "Don't make it out like I'm a nice person or something, kid. Food is just an essential. Don't mistake it for anything personal."

Aladdin wondered what it meant when your face turned red.

But the mysterious boy wouldn't answer any more questions. He was lost in himself.

They arrived at the place, but somewhere along the way, Aladdin snuck into the back of the caravan to snack on some other food since he was hungry.

"MY FRUIT!" The fat man screamed, upon seeing Aladdin snacking on all of his fruit.

"You need to learn to share, mister. Hi, mister! You want some?" He said to the shell-shocked boy, whose expression didn't change, before he let out a dramatic gasp.

"You little rascal! I just don't know why he acts that way, boss, I'm really sorry!" The blond teen grabbed Aladdin and dragged him out by the hand, shooting him a mock chiding look before turning to the man and apologizing.

He started pretending he knew Aladdin, for some reason. Why was he pretending? Aladdin looked at the odd person. Why was he content with being dishonest?

"You're a liar, mister." He said.

"All people lie. So what of it?" The other replied dispassionately, looking at him in sheer boredom, "You're gonna screw everything up for me, you know."

"What do you mean?" Aladdin asked.

"Nothing," He said, shooting another fake smile his way, "My name's Alibaba, by the way."

"Ugo-kun tells me you're lying."

The boy jumped.

"Why would I be lying? That's my name. That's what you can call me," He said, smiling. "By the way, what's that flute for? Practicing for band practice?"

"What's band practice?" Aladdin asked.

"It's a group of people who play things known as instruments together. So, where are your parents at, kid? Or are you an orphan?" Alibaba, apparently, drawled, looking at him in feigned interest. Alibaba didn't seem like a very nice person. But he gave off a different aura now, one of warmth.

What a confusing person. Not even Ugo seemed able to completely read him.

"I don't know." He said, shaking his head, "I don't know my parents. What about you?"

The boy's eyes widened. "I didn't know mine, either. I raised myself." He said, "By the way, kid, do you know about dungeons? They're supposed to have mystical powers and treasures inside. I want to conquer one."

"Why?" Aladdin asked.

The boy's eyes narrowed. "Enough questions."

"But I was just-"

"I said, enough questions, kid, oh, fine, Aladdin. I don't know where you came from, but you're just coming along with me now, and then-"

"I can come live with you!"

The boy jumped ten feet in the air. "N-No, you're not. You're going to be somewhere else. I don't have time to babysit. I've got more important things to accomplish."

"Like what?"

The boy's eyes glinted. "It's complicated. Now, are you in? I saw what you did earlier, with that giant. That was pretty cool."

* * *

 **A/N:Sorry, I can't write fight scenes well, so I skipped that part.**

"His name's Ugo!" Aladdin chirped.

"So, would you be willing to let me talk to that giant? I need to ask him something." The boy's eyes were suddenly burning with determination.

"He doesn't feel like coming out right now."

The boy grunted in frustration. "To think I spent all that time looking for another one of these djinns, and the only one I find isn't even willing to look my way! Great." He mumbled.

"Mister, why are you so mean all the time?"

The boy gave him a strange look.

"I don't know what you mean, kid, but this world is a fucked up one. You just gotta deal with it as it comes. I have...my whole life." His eyes flickered.

"Alibaba...kun?"

"Eh?" He said.

"I can call you Alibaba-kun, since we're friends, right?"

The boy paused, before his gaze trailed to the ground. "Yeah, we are. You can call me that, if you want."

* * *

Alibaba swung his legs back and forth as they sat at the brothel. How entertaining this was. He could flirt with all the sexy chicks he wanted to, and no one would say a word. It was fun playing the role of the innocent, naive youth and then turning the tables.

Ah, yes, pretending to be an idiot had its advantages.

Alibaba frowned at the wine that had been set out and pushed it aside. He didn't care for alcohol. He wasn't a drinker and besides, that just reminded him of the old days...

' _Enough_ ,' He told himself sharply, narrowing his eyes.

He couldn't allow himself to be caught off guard for even a moment.

And yet, he'd been slipping up, all over the place, with that boy.

Was it because he looked like - _him?-_

His heart quickened its pace, beating rapidly in his chest as his face flushed.

Bright, pleading blue eyes, calling his name, calling for forgiveness..

 _Masaomi_...

"Mikado..." He whispered, before shaking his head furiously.

"Keep a cool head." He muttered.

Alibaba had led an interesting life. He was a liar who was pretending to be someone he wasn't. He had previously been living in another world, until an accident happened and then he'd woken up in this world.

That was five years ago. Now, at age seventeen, he was working to attempt to leave this world.

Not that he would ever tell anyone those secrets. Some secrets were meant to never, ever be told, and "Alibaba" had sworn he would never trust anyone ever again. Not even this kid.

People would use you and you would use people. As much as it hurt to do such things, Alibaba had pledged to never be hurt again.

"Here comes the host of the house!"

Oh yes, there were some nice-looking girls here. Not bad on the eyes, some with very nice legs, some nice breasts...he scoured over them before he felt someone sit next to him.

"Hello, young man. Are you enjoying yourself?"

Alibaba took a sip of the wine, shuddered before pushing the cup as far away as possible, and said, "Could I have some water, instead? I'm not one for drinking, myself."

"Of course." The woman said, pouring him some water. "There you go."

\"Thank you very much-" Alibaba said, freezing as he took in the woman.

She wasn't exactly...what he was expecting.

But she was pretty, in her own way.

Though "Alibaba" was many things, a liar, a thief, a jerk, and a coward, there was one thing he wasn't, and that was judging by the looks of someone else. He would rather judge by actions.

"Hello." He said politely, smiling.

The woman looked surprised. "Most men cringe at the sight of my face."

The women beside her looked sad.

"A lot of people are very shallow and only see what's on the outside. But I see that on the inside, you are a sweet, charming angel. I'm certain of that much just by looking at you." Alibaba purred, starting his pick-up lines.

The woman crooned.

"How charming!"

"What a gentleman!"

"Hey, Aladdin, come over here and let me show you what it's like to attract girls-" He paused, and then his eyes widened in horror.

"Hi, Alibaba-kun, I'm busy right now!" Aladdin chirped...and he was...he was...

It took a total of five seconds for Alibaba to gently push the women around him away from him before he sprang up, and stormed over to Aladdin, with fury present on his face.

"Alibaba-kun, did you know that I love breasts?"

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" He roared, his fist colliding with Aladdin's head.

"Ow, that hurt, Alibaba!" Aladdin whined.

"It's fine!" The woman said.

"Rest assured, madam, he won't be assaulting you again. That wasn't very polite of him to do." Alibaba said, sparkling. He glared at Aladdin before dragging him over to the corner.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing? Didn't you know you're supposed to _ask_ before doing that to a girl?"

"Why?"

"Because, you dimwit, she's a person. And if you want to do those things with girls...you've gotta make sure they're okay with it, first! Second, it's utterly revolting to do. Keep your hands to yourself and your rocket in your pocket. You might be a man, but you need to not act like a sex fiend, okay?"

"What's a-"

"I'll tell you when you're older." He said, "Look, this shouldn't be stuff for you to imitate yet. You're too young."

"You're a boring prude, Alibaba! I bet you're a virgin." Aladdin huffed. "You're just trying to prevent me from having fun!"

"I'm not a virgin." Alibaba hissed. Annoying little brat...

"So, what are you supposed to do?" Aladdin asked.

"What do you mean?"

"After you kiss the women, then what?"

"Well, first..."

After telling him only that it was something gross and that people got tired doing it, Aladdin looked horrified.

"I don't wanna know." He moaned.

"That was fun!" Alibaba chirped.

"Alibaba-kun, how did you get so many women to come to you?"

"I just have charm."

"And why were you with the ugly lady?"

"Hey, she wasn't ugly, she was very nice. Appearances aren't everything, okay? First thing to know when trying to attract a woman: never insult them, you'll get punched. And it's not okay for anyone to hit anyone, but if you make the moves first on her and she says no, that's assault. So next time, don't do the...thing...unless girls say yes. Okay?"

"Okay..." He muttered. "You're such a spoilsport, Alibaba-kun."

Alibaba facepalmed.

' _What the fuck did his parents teach him?'_ He wondered.

That night, as Alibaba slept on his bed, he woke.

He swore he heard footsteps. Quiet footsteps.

He instantly woke, quickly tucking his parchment and quill back in his second "scarf," which actually had an opening in the middle safe for tucking things in it.

"Hey, who's there?" He snapped.

His eyes widened as he saw Aladdin.

"Alibaba-kun, you were calling someone's name out in your sleep."

"Was not." The boy snapped, his cheeks flushed red.

"It was someone named...Micah...? Mika-"

"Get out." The boy snapped, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"But I-"

"Listen, Aladdin, let's get one thing straight. You don't need to know everything about me. And I don't need to know everything about you. I know enough. Just know that sometimes, I don't want to answer certain questions, so just drop it, okay? Now, go back to sleep." Alibaba said.

Aladdin was silent, looking at Alibaba, before he spoke, "Who is that person?"

"I just said-"

"I wanna know who they are, is all." Aladdin asked.

"An old friend. Don't worry about it, and go back to sleep." Was the curt answer he got.

Alibaba lay back down on his bed, glaring up at the ceiling. "Do you think I was too hard on him...Dark?"

He laughed. "He's a what? Why didn't you tell me this beforehand? Idiot. How am I supposed to react to that, knowing you could be hurt by him! Yeah, I know all about your hatred of white "rukh" stuff, whatever the hell that stuff is, but you don't need to fear him. He's just a kid."

" _So were you so long ago, Alibaba_." A deep voice said from within his mind, as dark hands embraced his side.

"That's not appropriate for now." Alibaba muttered, falling asleep while the figure in his mind watched on emotionlessly.

-The Next Morning-

* * *

"ALADDIN!?"

So the morning began with a loud shriek emitting from our protagonist.

Alibaba flew at him. "Where did you put my sword?"

"Alibaba, it was cool! I just had to see it!"

"Give it back!" Alibaba snapped.

"Geez, here it is," Aladdin whined, "You're so mean."

"Goddamn it, don't look at me with those eyes." Alibaba muttered, folding his arms and turning away. ' _Anyway, once I figure out how to get to this dungeon place, I'll just ask whatever creature is there if it can take us back to my world...or maybe you will talk to it?'_

' _ **Not on your life. You know the others don't like me**_.' Dark answered.

' _Whatever. We're going there, anyway_.' Alibaba sighed.

"Alibaba, what are you thinking about?" Aladdin asked.

"Nothing." He muttered.

"You're a really weird guy, but I like you. Even though you're a jerk-"

Alibaba twitched.

"A liar who smiles when he should be sad-"

Alibaba twitched again.

"A weirdo who doesn't like it when I do the thing with women-"

Alibaba sighed.

"Shut up, kid." He said, suddenly patting Aladdin's head.

"Why are you being nice to me all of a sudden? Are you gonna use me for something?"

The smirk on the other's face told him his answer, and he shuddered.

"You're gonna have to guide me around this dungeon thing. I can't do it alone. I have never been in one. That giant of yours-"

"His name is Ugo."

"Okay, that Ugo dude should be able to help. Oh, and also, does he make jokes? Does he do impressions of people?"

He knew he'd said too much, judging by the clueless look Aladdin was sending him.

"Ugo doesn't joke around much. What are you talking about?"

"Nothing, nothing." He had to mentally make a note to avoid talking about future references. People wouldn't get TV show, movie, or music jokes here.

How disappointing.

Still, a part of him was excited to do this, a little bit.

After all, the sooner he could leave this odd, freaky world, the better.

After they'd bought their things at the supermarket-goddammit, it's not a supermarket, it's just a bazaar, he ran into the first incredibly cute girl he'd ever met here.

That's when he met _...her._

A pretty red-haired girl with red eyes.

She was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

It was at times like this that Alibaba cursed his being bisexual.

"Hello there, young lady, you sure are beautiful!" He chirped.

The red-haired girl looked away.

It was then that he noticed the chains around her feet.

"Oh..." He muttered, "I'm sorry."

She looked at him. "I don't need pity."

Suddenly, Aladdin had cut the red-haired girl's chains free.

"Now you can run without hiding your legs!"

Alibaba frowned as he watched her run away.

' **She might be someone's slave...I'll have to keep an eye out and see if anyone's going to try and pursue us. I mean, who knows what this kid might do-'**

The kid was already pulling him in the direction of the dungeon.

"Hey, I don't wanna go in here right nowwwwwwww!"

Before he knew it, he was dragged into the portal.

Many colors passed around him.

* * *

It felt like the lights were trying to push him back.

 _"It's an anomaly...'_ An odd voice whispered.

" _An anomaly! Make it leave!"_

" **Alibaba..."**

Dark's voice...

His eyes snapped open, in time to see himself lying in... _water?_

Instantly, Alibaba screamed and jumped backwards, in time to see Aladdin was already ahead of him.

"Aladdin, wait!" He yelped, struggling to get through the disgusting stuff without cringing.

"Do you not like water?"

"I fucking hate it." He growled. "Always remember, Aladdin, water is out to murder you."

Sure enough, the water exploded seconds after that.

"Goddammit, I hate being right." He muttered.

"Come on, Alibaba-kun, let's go!"

"Yay." He said in a deadpan tone.

"Are you gonna be this grumpy the whole time? You're my friend, now smile." Aladdin stretched out Alibaba's jaw, causing the displaced time traveler to back away.

"Fine, I'm smiling."

"That's a fake smile."

"I'm smiling!"

Despite himself, he laughed.

Perhaps he could forget about everything.

Who was he kidding?

"So, Alibaba-kun, why do you want to get this dungeon so badly?" Aladdin asked.

"That's personal, but I can tell you it's complicated. I also do want to meet this djinn person or whatever and ask him for a favor!" He said, laughing to himself.

"Alibaba-kun is a sneaky person."

"What's wrong with that, goddammit, Mikado!" He snapped, then stopped. "Just a slip of the tongue."

Why was he slipping up around this boy?

This boy was annoying, stupid and above all, just a replacement for...Mikado, right?

Then why was he starting to care about him?

' _Don't get attached_ ,' He warned himself, but it was already too late.

As they dodged some traps, he had to think to himself that this was kind of exciting. A smile crossed his face.

Let danger come his way.

He was a former gang leader, after all.

His foes would never know what was coming for them.

* * *

"Are you certain you saw a brat, Morgiana?" A black-haired man asked his servant, who nodded.

"Yes, he went in this place with a blond-haired boy." Morgiana said.

"Good girl." He caressed her cheek, oblivious to how she backed away.

"You will obey only me, right, Morgiana?"

Morgiana remembered the blond boy's words for a few moments before she shook her head.

She had to do as Lord Jamil commanded. She was just property.


	2. Chapter 2 Alibaba vs Jamil

_3 favorites and 2 follows are nice, though an actual review would be nice as well. This won't follow canon completely, as Baba is different from canon, his physical skills/endurance/attitude is completely different. He doesn't just rely on his sword to get him through things, and yeah he is partly fallen, so the rukh will react a little differently around him. I will explain his past through little segments, the part with Kassim in Qishan will probably be devoted to exploring their past and how they met. It's no fun if you know all his secrets right away, after all. And my old story is nothing like Baba now, thanks to rping him, his character has grown a lot and become more complex._

 _Again, third person perspective like usual, and Alibaba is the lead so he will be hogging the spotlight, so to speak. I won't rewrite all of canon, but I will skip some parts (like some filler, because I assume you all know what happens). Some of this will be flashback-oriented._

 _Interesting tidbit, but Alibaba's "spirit animal", so to speak, is the fox, he calls himself a "Fox in chicken's clothing" and calls himself a trickster. I think you will be seeing some examples of that throughout the story. Of course, he is a nice person deep down, he just lives with deceit as his best friend._

 _""You have a good heart and you think the good thing is to be guilty and kind but it's not always kind to be gentle and soft, there's a genuine violence softness and kindness visit on people. Sometimes self-interested is the most generous thing you can be. "_

― _Tony Kushner, Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika_ _(both from )_

 _""Perhaps what I am about to say will appear strange to you gentlemen, socialists, progressives, humanitarians as you are, but I never worry about my neighbor, I never try to protect society which does not protect me - indeed, I might add, which generally takes no heed of me except to do me harm - and, since I hold them low in my esteem and remain neutral towards them, I believe that society and my neighbor are in my debt."_

― _Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo_

* * *

Chapter 2 Amon's dungeon; the fox in chicken's clothing lunges

 _It's all your fault._

 _All this suffering and all this hurt._

 _It's all your fault._

 _You hurt him._

 _You abandoned him._

 _You left him behind._

 _Why is an existence like you still in this world?_

 _Die._

 _Die._

 _DIE!_

* * *

"-Alibaba-kun!"

Just like that, the accusing voices faded away as Alibaba snapped his eyes open-in time to see the odd blue-haired kid from earlier-Aladdin, wasn't it-standing over him, looking-concerned? Ha, why should he be concerned over him? He was using the kid, that was all there was to it.

"What is it?" He asked, getting up and scratching his head. How long had they been in this damned dungeon-the feel of all the positive energy around was getting to Dark and so it was also making him drowsy.

"It feels like poison to my ears." Dark whined in his head, hands over his ears.

"Just keep on going," Alibaba whispered to himself as he brushed his blond bangs back with his fingers, before glancing over at the blue-haired kid, who was still creepily staring at him. It sort of freaked him out.

"Your energy feels weird, mister. Like it's "dark"-are you sad about something? I can make that better." Then he started walking toward him.

Instinctively, Alibaba backed away. "Hey, hey, easy, kid. I don't know you that well yet, and what did I tell you? I can't go blabbing all my problems to some kid I just met. I'm not that comfortable with other people."

"Were you hurt before?" Aladdin asked.

Alibaba just stood up, brushing himself off. "It's complicated," Was all he said as he walked on, Aladdin following him, shooting him curious stares.

The boy he was with was quite hostile, unusually so, and mean. Yet he was seemingly a little warmer to him now. The look on his face was less colder than it had been before. Instead, the young man was... _turning red?_

"What does it mean when you turn red?"

"Huh?" The young man jumped, turning around.

"Why are your cheeks red?"

"It means...you're surprised, sick, drunk, or even embarrassed...it's a natural human thing." He replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

Aladdin looked at the other in confusion as they continued on their trek throughout the dungeon.

A few monsters came to fight them.

"Alibaba-kun, stay back-"

But the blond teen was already charging ahead, aiming a fist at the dungeon creature and punching it straight in the nose with amazing agility, only for his hand to get caught in its jaws.

"Let go, you stupid bastard!"

"Alibaba-kun, you've gotta treat them with respect!" Aladdin cried.

"Right...sorry." He muttered, tugging his hand free. The creature bowed to the Magi and moved on.

"Why did it bow to you?" Alibaba asked, rubbing his arm.

"I don't know." Aladdin shrugged. Animals in this dungeon were weird, they were bowing to him for no reason.

"Maybe they think you're someone important?" Alibaba suggested, scratching his nose.

"I don't think so," Aladdin said. "I'm just with Ugo. I was in a room for a long, long time."

"Isolated?" Alibaba asked, a wide-eyed look on his face. "Who would do that to a kid?"

"I didn't mind!" Aladdin chirped, "Because Ugo was always with me!"

"Aladdin, that's-" His expression darkened.

* * *

Suddenly, however, a monster interrupted them, and a fight occurred, with Aladdin using Ugo's powers to fight off the monster.

Alibaba watched in astonishment as the battle took place before his eyes. His eyes sparkled in astonishment at how strong this kid was.

The kid staggered to the ground. "I don't feel so good, Alibaba-kun. I'm gonna take a nap." Aladdin muttered tiredly.

"Aladdin!" Alibaba cried, running and catching him in his arms.

' _Why does this kid remind me so much of.. **.him?** '_

An image of a black-haired teen with blue eyes flashed into his mind.

His cheeks heated up before he shook his head.

 _'This is just a kid. He's not the same as Mikado, he'll never be.'_

* * *

Alibaba decided to keep watch on him. His gaze went all around the dungeon, keeping a close eye on everything. He pretended to sleep. Alibaba barely, if ever, slept, out of fear of his nightmares waking him up. He had gotten kicked out of jobs before for screaming in his sleep.

The nightmares were continuous and always, always, always continued to follow the same pattern. Every night was the same dream or same sequence of them: a dream about his friend. Blood, so much blood, all over his hands. Someone crying. More blood. And him holding a sword, and Kassim...

The thought of Kassim made his fists tighten and his heart want to break, but Alibaba shook his head again, determined to not think about the past. But it was all he had tying him to that life, that old identity he'd once had, before time and the past had shattered his own concept of his identity.

How he wished he could just be ordinary once again, but unfortunately that didn't seem to be happening any time soon.

He closed his eyes and listened.

A single footstep, quiet.

He paused, sitting up, his golden eyes glimmering like that of a fox's in the dark. He crept around the corner, watching as a familiar red-haired girl darted down the hallway, looking for...them?

'So it's as I suspected,' He thought darkly, 'She's with someone. She's someone's slave. But whose?'

His eyes settled on the huge guy passing by her and then the last, a black-haired man with red eyes...his vision was swimming...he could recall red eyes...and then his fists were tightening, his heart was pounding fiercer, fiercer, so loud he almost swore they could hear it.

 _'You sick bastard. It's all your fault. I'm going to kill you.'_

He swallowed his words and continued watching, until he saw the figure more clearly. It was that lord of the town he was in-he captured people as slaves, from what he heard, and was cruel and despicable.

 _'Some eras have despicable serpents in them,_ ' He whispered in his mind.

Now to just keep the kid safe and-

The girl was there.

The red-haired girl was looking right at him.

For a moment, he could think of nothing to say as she came toward Aladdin.

* * *

She glanced from him to Aladdin and back, as if asking a question: was this boy a friend of his?

He nodded, mutely. "...Are you with him?"

She flinched upon being spoken to and lowered her head. "Yes."

"Why?" He asked simply.

"...It's my duty in life. Master Jamil wants him."

Alibaba stared at her, his eyes wide.

"This doesn't concern you. I will ask him to spare you." She said icily, reaching for Aladdin, but he stopped her.

"Hang on!" He said, but he didn't get any further before Jamil arrived, his red eyes staring through him and at the blue-haired kid.

"Good job, Morgiana, you found him! The magi!"

 _'Magi? Is that what they're called, Dark?_ ' Alibaba asked.

When the Dark Djinn didn't respond, he shook his head before turning back and smiling at the other.

"Hey, he's my friend. We're no one special, pay no attention to us."

But Jamil was walking straight past him.

That struck a nerve within him, but he kept the tight smile on his face.

"Hey, you can't just take him! He's my friend!" He argued, grabbing Jamil's sleeve.

Jamil shook him off like he was a fly.

"You dare touch me, commoner? Were you speaking to me?" He asked.

"Yeah, I was. _Please_ give me my friend back." He said, sounding terrified. Only he wasn't.

It was a bit...of **mischief**. Of legerdemain.

Alibaba was quite good at mimicry, at imitating emotions and hiding his own emotions.

"I can't believe you talked to me and now try to order me around. Goltas, kill him."

"Whoa, let's get along now!" Alibaba shouted, sounding panicked as the giant man came closer.

"Kill him." Goltas said.

"Help!" Alibaba said.

Jamil smirked.

But a second later, he noticed the boy was still standing upright, having moved to the side lightly, like a fox, evading Goltas's attack.

"You consider that an attack? Pathetic." He whispered, wiping blood off his face. "I'll show you a real attack." And like that, he punched Goltas in the stomach, causing the other to collapse in pain. He hadn't punched him that hard, actually, but he needed to defend himself.

He came over to the giant man and pointed his blade around his neck, staring at Jamil with a hostile look on his face. "Hey, quit fucking with me and tell me what's going on here. Don't think you can just jerk me around, because it'll be the last thing you do, all right?"

Jamil paused. "I'm impressed by your sadism! Your cruelty, it's so amusing! You are horrible by comparison, Goltas. You let yourself get taken hostage by a mere commoner brat. You should be punished."

And then suddenly, Goltas was stabbed through the exact same spot where Alibaba had punched him, as blood soaked his garment, the giant man fell to the ground, clutching his stomach.

"What are you doing? Quit resisting, you stupid beast. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Jamil kicked the man hard on the back, over and over.

Alibaba watched, dispassionately, though the disgust was evident in his eyes. "...Despicable." He muttered.

'Indeed.' Dark agreed.

"He's my property, I have the right to treat him how I please. And why don't I make you my slave?" He hissed, licking the sword covered with blood.

Alibaba looked from the wounded man, feeling a flicker of pity go through him for the other, and then back to the red-haired girl, who was watching him with interest on her face.

 _"Fuck no."_

Jamil's face reddened. "You will consider it an honor to be my slave."

Alibaba smiled smugly. "I don't think so."

He was slapped in the face by the insane man, but even so, Alibaba got back up, smiling still.

"Okay, sir, I'll do what you like, now."

"That's much better," Jamil said, kicking Goltas. "Get up, you lazy oaf. And if you say anything else, I'll cut your tongue out."

"Yes, sir!" He chirped, trying hard not to laugh at how stupid this man was.

* * *

"You shouldn't backtalk him." The redhead said.

"He's a pile of shit." Alibaba muttered.

"You're going to get killed with that attitude." She said.

"And why are you giving up on everything?" He muttered back. "You can be free, you know."

"No whispering now, get on with it, slave!" Jamil said, kicking Alibaba. He pretended to be hurt.

"Ow, that hurts!" He whimpered.

"Don't make me angry, slave. Now go look ahead. I've had to use a ton of slaves for this."

'Use? Kill? Fucking asshole bastard. _..Izaya...Izaya_...I'll kill this bastard. I'll kill him.'

A hot, murderous wave of anger swept over him, but nonetheless, he steeled himself and stepped ahead. These traps were ridiculously easy. Had he less physical strength and endurance, he would easily be owned.

"Wow, you're stronger than I thought." Jamil said, clapping.

"Just watch!" Alibaba chirped, heading toward the next trap, and then the panel opened.

Well, he'd figured that shit was going to happen. This dungeon and this life hated him. This whole world hated him.

"Goodbye, Izayaaaaa! Take care of that temper now!" He taunted, waving as he fell.

Jamil's face reddened. "MY NAME IS LORD JAMIL!" He shrieked.

* * *

"Master Jamil, calm down." Morgiana said, trying to console her master, but he pushed her aside.

"You're useless! You let him insult me!"

"He's dead now." She said.

"That's right. And that's what you will be if you cross me."

Morgiana flinched at the image of the young man, now dead because of his careless mistakes.

Why had his words touched a nerve?

Those eyes...those golden eyes...

She felt some sadness flicker in her for a few moments.

She had to continue on.

He was nothing but a stranger.

* * *

 _"You're crying again, M***omi." The black-haired boy said, patting Alibaba's head._

 _Alibaba stood up, wiping the tears from his eyes. "You really want to be my friend?"_

 _"Of course! I'm Mikado and what's your name?"_

 _Alibaba smiled. "My name is..."_

And they shook hands.

The world falls apart in pieces.

He's somewhere, and it hurts. Everything is hot and he can't stand it.

"Mikado..." He whines, sitting up. Wait, why isn't he being affected by the flames?

Then he notices dark rukh swirling around him, forming a protective shield.

"You cushioned my fall, didn't you?" He asks his alter ego, who nods.

'That man...I should kill him for hurting you."

"No, I'll do that myself." Alibaba muttered darkly.

"Mikado, wait! I'll get home to you... I swear!" He cried as he took off down the dungeon.

* * *

 **Ikebukuro, Japan, the year 2009**

Fifteen-year old Mikado Ryuugamine tilted his head, as he sat in class.

He could've sworn he'd heard someone call his name from somewhere.

It'd sounded like his voice...like Kida's voice.

But that was impossible. Kida was dead.

"Masaomi?" He whispered.

 _'MIKADO, WAIT! I'LL GET HOME TO YOU, I SWEAR!'_ It came again, louder.

It sounded far away, like Masaomi was somewhere, far, far away, but despite that distance, he heard his voice, clear as day.

The force of it made him nearly jump out of his seat.

Unshed tears formed in his eyes.

"Masaomi...?" He muttered again.

"Ryuugamine-san, is there something wrong?" The teacher asked.

"N-No, I'm fine," Mikado muttered, sitting back down, writing his odd dream and the odd voice in his head down on his phone. Well, not writing so much as texting.

 _'Could he really be alive somewhere? And if so, why won't he contact me?'_

The blue-eyed teen frowned, tapping his pencil.

"Masaomi, wherever you are, please be okay. I'm sure he can manage himself. It's not like he's in some life or death situation. You'd better be fine, you stupid idiot."

* * *

"Your friend is dead!"

Ouch, that hurts.

Didn't that sound familiar, the blond teen thought as he crawled over to them, and casually lifted his hand up. "Yo, I'm not fucking dead."

"Alibaba-kun!" Aladdin chirped, as his friend jumped down and landed a little haphazardly on the other.

"Good job serenading this beautiful lady. You're pretty and you should be free, you know?"

"Shut up." The redhead hissed, kicking the ground.

Suddenly, he noticed that he and Aladdin were flying. A carpet?

Of course, of course this world had to be more bizarre.

"Aladdin, higher!" He yelped, upon seeing Kicking Girl come flying at them.

"You oughta see all the cool stuff." He rambled on and on.

'When was the last time I was this _happy_?' He thought to himself as he listened to Aladdin.

Maybe he did...care about the brat.

Damn him for having the same eyes as Mikado.

The one...he loved.

He shook his head.

"Alibaba-kun, what do you want to ask the djinn?"

* * *

He sighed. "I want to return home." He said. "There's a place I need to be. Further from here. It's called Balbadd. There's someone there I need to meet again."

Okay, it was a half-truth, but did the truth really sound remotely believable?

 **Hi, I'm a person from a thousand centuries from now! I'm totally not crazy.**

No way would he tell this kid that.

 _No one_ would believe that.

"What's Balbadd?" Aladdin asked Alibaba as the two of them were flying over the weird-looking city.

"You don't know? It's one of the biggest port cities in all of this world! It's amazing!" He rambled on and on, parroting information people had taught him.

"Alibaba-kun, you're a super weird, moody and creepy guy, but I like you. I think you're a good person, you just don't know how to show it."

Alibaba snapped, "Shut up, you don't know what you're talking about."

"He's embarrassed!"

"Am not."

"Are, too."

"Am not."

"Are, too."

Alibaba stuck his tongue out at Aladdin.

As they stepped down from the carpet, Alibaba's eyes lit up upon seeing treasure. Wow, there was so much of it. But his eyes were drawn to the red jewels, which looked like...like his favorite food in the world.

"Have we reached the end yet?" He asked, holding up treasures.

"No." Aladdin said.

"Shit." He moaned. "I'm getting tired and hungry."

Suddenly, someone knocked him to the ground.

It was the man, Goltas. He looked like he had been tortured.

Aladdin was sent flying into a wall.

"Aladdin!" He cried. "You son of a bitch." He growled.

"You...how dare you lead me into a trap! You brat!"

"Your fault for falling for it, Izaya." He chirped, smiling wickedly.

"My name is Jamil."

"It's Izaya now. Super annoying _Izaya_." He chirped.

"Jamil, you useless commoner! I'm going to kill you."

"You do that." He challenged.

The man cowered and shook. "I hate those monsters, I wanna go home."

* * *

"Aw, look, am I supposed to feel bad for you when you torture other human beings? Look, I've met plenty of sick fucks, but you're the biggest fucking sociopath I've met in a long time. If you're cowardly, you can just get down on your hands and knees and cede this dungeon to me. That's how it works, there are strong and weak people. But in a place like this, I don't really give a fuck about that stuff. I just care that you're hurting those lesser than you." Alibaba said icily.

"Shut up, you brat. I'm going to carve your tongue out."

"Just try. I'll show you a world of pain." He said, his voice in a quiet but stern tone.

Jamil charged at him with his blade, but Alibaba blocked.

"That all you've got?" He said quietly, as he kicked the other in the ribs.

"You little pest!" He growled, but Alibaba was too fast.

"I haven't trained for nothing." He lashed out with his fist and punched him in the nose, giving him a bloody nose.

"You little pest! How dare you make me bleed! Morgiana!"

"How cowardly, you're having a woman fight for you? Fight me yourself, you wuss." Alibaba taunted, waving his blade above the other, circling him. "Now, how should I repay you? Oh, I know."

He smiled and then sank the blade into Jamil's shoulder, smiling as blood went on the blade. "How does it feel feeling that same pain?"

Then the next thing he knew, pain hit his side as the red-head kicked him, knocking him forward, the blade spinning out of his hands. He quickly got back up, but his sides ached. Damn, what or who was she exactly?

"You're fast." He said, smiling as he got his blade and sheathed it. "If you want to fight physically, I'll do it."

"You'll die, boy. She's a Fanalis."

"Fanali-what?"

"Fanalis, they're the strongest race on Earth! Superhuman speed, strength!"

"Ignore him. You can be free, you know." He said, smiling at her.

Morgiana paused, then approached, then sent him flying into the wall.

 _"I figured that would happen._ " He mumbled, rubbing his bloody head. "This is nostalgic."

"You're trash...trash like you should die." Jamil cried, smashing his head into the ground.

'Trash...'

The words pounded in his head as he lay there.

 _'I'm gonna die again. Like this. Without ever seeing him again. Without ever seeing any of them again. I refuse. Like hell this idiot will kill me.'_

That was not how Alibaba Saluja-no, ** _Kida Masaomi,_ ** was going to go down. He was a Shogun. No matter what, he rose back up.

An image of Mikado flashed into his mind as he stood back up, blood running down his face. "Is that all you've fucking got, you asshole?" He smiled, wiping blood off his face and licking some of it off. "You see, I've been itching to kill you and now I can."

"What are you?" Jamil said. "Who are you?"

"Just an ordinary fellow." He chuckled, before placing his sword near the blood, as it glowed brightly before changing in shape.

Before he could do anything, however, Morgiana kicked him again, pinning him to the ground.

"Kill him, Morgiana." Jamil urged, handing her his sword. "You know he'll kill you if you don't. He's a disgusting runt. Just kill him. Kill. I know you can."

Morgiana raised the sword above her. This boy had wounded her master, her master she was bound to serve and obey.

She paused.

The boy wasn't closing his eyes or begging for his life. Instead, golden eyes were staring up at her emotionlessly.

"What's wrong? You said you were going to kill me, hurry up and do it. Or don't you have the guts to? You're hesitating, you've got no urge to kill me, admit it."

"Shut up." She whispered, about to bring the blade down.

"You know you can't," He said, "He hasn't won you over completely, has he?"

She shook.

"What's wrong, Morgiana? Do it. Kill him."

Morgiana paused before dropping the sword and falling to her knees.

She could not do it.

For some reason, she could not bring herself to kill this boy. Even though she'd seen this boy behave rather ruthlessly in battle, she couldn't help but be fascinated by him.

How frustrating.

Frustrating.

She cursed herself.

For listening to someone like him.

Yet his eyes were softer now.

It felt like she was seeing his real self for a second.

"I knew you weren't that bad." He whispered, before the blue-haired boy showed up again.

"Give me my flute." He urged. "Alibaba-kun, you shouldn't hurt others. But you fought for others who were hurt. That's good."

"Heh, you saw, huh? I can still fight."

"No, stay there. You've done enough." Aladdin urged, stepping forward and Alibaba watched, as Aladdin called forth those odd white things to his side again.

* * *

Then, the djinn appeared, a fat old man with blue skin.

"Who will be king?" He droned out. "You? No, you're a fake. You? No, you have lots of spirit. Oh, Magi!"

He bowed before Aladdin.

Then his gaze rested on Alibaba, who winced.

"You! _You're_ supposed to be king?"

"Maybe?" He said, chuckling.

"You tried to kill someone back there!"

"Given that he _tried to kill my friend_ , I think it's justified!"

"You also reek of darkness! What makes you so sure I can be your master?" Amon huffed.

 _"You're_ Amon? A whiny old guy like you? I was expecting someone tougher." Alibaba huffed. "Not someone who's afraid of a kid like me and a little darkness. Not all darkness is bad."

"Yes, it is, boy, and you should know better than to trifle with such things."

"What do you mean by darkness?" Aladdin asked.

Amon changed in expression. "I mean that there are two forms of the energy known as rukh-there is white rukh, or the good rukh, emanating from positive feelings, then there is dark rukh, rukh made from hatred, envy, fear, sadness, and anger, all the worst emotions possible. That boy there is crawling with darkness."

Ugo appeared and started to talk to Amon.

"Hm, what's this? What? You want me to-but he's literally filthy!"

"Hey, I shower every week, idiot!" Alibaba snapped.

"Hot-tempered, rude, and self-centered, what kind of master is this?" Amon growled.

"Yeah? Well, _you're arrogant_ , prejudiced and judgmental! What kind of djinn are you if you categorize everything into black and white stuff, anyway? Not all darkness is bad!" Alibaba yelled.

"I declare that you've cleared this dungeon. Magi, please try to tame this...this child. He is an unusual one."

"I...I actually wanted to ask you a favor!" Alibaba said, nervously.

"And why should I do anything for you?"

"I need to return...to somewhere else! Can you take me back there? You have power! Send me there!" He got down on his hands and knees.

"Hm, somewhere else, you say? The energy around you is indeed odd. But no, I cannot. And I refuse to do anything for a brat like you."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BRAT, YOU FUCKING PRICK?"

Amon ignored Alibaba as he turned back to Morgiana, who was watching. "Well, child, are you coming?"

"I-" She began, but Jamil got back up.

* * *

However, the dungeon was starting to fall apart, so Amon got ready to take them out of the dungeon.

"I am tempted to leave you in here, brat, but I will give you a chance." He muttered grumpily.

"Take some Prozac!" Alibaba yelled.

"What is that?"

"Never mind."

Alibaba watched as the man named Goltas sacrificed himself for Morgiana and the others, but not before he apologized for hurting him.

"Wait!" Morgiana cried, but she was placed on the carpet with the others as they descended.

"I sure hope I don't see that genie again." Alibaba said, sulking. "That wasn't too bad, was it?"

"You're a sadist." Morgiana replied, "You hurt him."

"He hurt _me_ first." Alibaba pointed out.

"You are selfish." She muttered.

"Whatever," Alibaba mumbled.

"Alibaba-kun," Aladdin said, "You're a brave guy."

"No, I'm not. I did all that for myself, Aladdin. I'm a selfish piece of shit." He said, chuckling.

"No, you got mad when she was being enslaved and hurt." Aladdin insisted.

Alibaba laughed. "Whatever you say, kid."

"I don't care what you might be, Alibaba-kun! Darkness or not, you're my friend! You matter to me."

Alibaba's eyes watered before he started crying silently. "You're fucking kidding me."

"I'm not kidding, and quit saying dirty words." Aladdin said, patting Alibaba's head.

The boy wiped his tears away before smiling awkwardly. "Okay. I'll try not to." He said.

"What's your name?" Morgiana asked. "I'm Morgiana."

"I'm Alibaba." He said, smiling slightly. "Sorry if I got weird...I did have fun."

* * *

The next thing he knew, he found himself away from Aladdin, surrounded by money and shit.

Boringgggg.

He would have much preferred a bunch of cherry desserts.

Though having the women around was nice, he wasn't satisfied with monetary goals.

He just wanted to go home. He felt so out of place here he knew it.

It was just like that genie put it.

He didn't belong here.

And he knew it, too. That was why he needed to leave this stupid world.

There's no place for someone like him.

"You freed us. Thank you." Morgiana said.

"It's what Aladdin would do." He replied simply.

"You are a good person." She said, "Were you hurt before?"

"Yes," He replied. "It changed me a lot. You see, if you're too kind, the world breaks you apart and you can't break free. It alters you forever. But enough about that. You are quite a cute girl, so would you like to date me?"

He got a kick to the face as a response.

"Right, right! I was teasing!" He said, laughing slightly.

"I...I like you more when you're laughing and smiling, Ali-Alibaba-san." She said, looking at him uncertainly.

"I'd rather keep my tough guy image, thanks." He pouted.

Morgiana smiled for the first time in a long while. "I think you're not that bad of a person."

"That's encouraging. That makes things less complicated."

* * *

The next day, Morgiana found Alibaba gone, except for a note that read: Dear Morgiana, I've gotta take care of some things regarding a friend. Be back soon. Sorry for departing, Alibaba.

She frowned. "He oughta tell people things before running off. Is that just how he is?"

She cursed how frustrating the blond kid was.

Elsewhere, a certain time traveler sneezed.

"Are you catching a cold, Alibaba?" A brown-haired young man asked.

"No, not really. Just thinking about things." Alibaba muttered. "I want to go back."

"Oh, about your other life, right? I know it can be hard, but you need to let it go. What if you can't go back?" Kassim said.

"I haven't worked so hard for nothing." Alibaba said softly, "After all, the one who first encouraged me in this world...was you."


	3. Chapter 3 Skeletons in the closet

A/N:Hey, friend! thanks for reviewing this story! I don't intend on revealing Alibaba's backstory all at once, but little bits and pieces of it are coming in today. All we know about him is he's a grouchy time traveler with a mysterious past. Today, we'll learn some more about him and his relationship with Kassim...

I hope he's not too unlikeable, he only appears that way. He's got legit reasons for being the jerk he is.

 _""He had two lives: one, open, seen and known by all who cared to know, full of relative truth and of relative falsehood, exactly like the lives of his friends and acquaintances; and another life running its course in secret. And through some strange, perhaps accidental, conjunction of circumstances, everything that was essential, of interest and of value to him, everything in which he was sincere and did not deceive himself, everything that made the kernel of his life, was hidden from other people."_

― _Anton Chekhov, The Lady With the Little Dog and Other Stories, 1896-1904_

* * *

Chapter Three: Skeletons in the closet

...

He was irritating him lately.

He really had been so, so, so irritating.

He hastened to call his friend such a term, but no, really, he was being an irritating little pain in the ass right now. It made him want to stop smoking, continue smoking, and then do it until he was dead. Which, according to the blond, meant he would be dead sooner rather than later, since he was always going on and on about why he shouldn't smoke.

"Can you keep it down?" He growled, turning over in his bed, glaring at the other, blond teen, who was whimpering visibly upon seeing the cigarette. "It's just a cigarette!"

"But you're gonna get cancer and die! It's really painful! You're gonna have horrible pain, lose all your hair-"

Lose his hair?

Shit, that sounded bad. He liked his hair.

"What else happens?" He said, suddenly sounding interested.

"You, uh, slowly and horribly die. Your immune system shuts down, you have to wear wigs, your whole body just, uh, dies, in the worst of ways. Smoking is the main cause of cancer, but there are multiple forms of it."

Multiple forms?

"Haven't you guys, uh, stopped it in your time?"

"As if!" He laughed, "It's the number one killer of people in my world. No matter what you do, someone gets it."

Geez.

That sucked.

So basically, this disease was going to kill him unless he stopped smoking?

Unless this was Alibaba's attempt at a joke, he doubted it was. The serious look on the blond's face told him his answer. Alibaba cared about him, and if he was destroying himself, then maybe he should confide in his friend.

Kassim considered that for a few moments.

Still, even though his friend came from another world-it didn't make him the boss of everything, right?

"Okay, I'll try to quit smoking," He said, "Only if you quit whining about it."

"Oh, Kassim, you're awesome!" The blond said, attempting to tackle him.

Kassim dodged. "Dude, we're not like thirteen anymore, quit it, Kida!"

At the use of his real name, Kassim noticed the blond's face fall, before it hardened.

* * *

Kassim was one of the only people who knew Alibaba wasn't from this world or this reality.

To be honest, he hadn't believed the kid when he had first turned up before him, babbling on and on about some "other world" and how he was lost and needed to "go back." He had told him to get lost and get a life.

But, somehow, this blond kid had won his heart by pouring his heart out to him and Kassim had-reluctantly-accepted someone else into his family. It was great, having a little brother figure. Kida, or "Alibaba" as he was later called (after Kassim's favorite hero in his book series, the Arabian Nights, and also because Miriam could pronounce that name.), would always look after Miriam and seemed...envious of their relationship as siblings.

He knew the kid inside and out, which was why he was happy when the kid returned to help him with his gang again. He knew Alibaba had a bad history with gangs that he hadn't explained to him in so many words, but he just knew the kid didn't like the whole gang business and wanted out.

The difference, he told him, was that here they were doing good for the poor people who were being ignored by a world that didn't care. Therefore, they were different.

He wasn't sure if the blond had swallowed that or not.

He was using him-a little bit. Just a tiny bit.

But, he needed to achieve his dream.

"Kassim," The blond teen muttered tiredly, flopping over in his bed, "Do you know about...dark vessels?"

Kassim jumped out of his bed in alarm, staring at the teen with wide eyes. "How...do you know about that?"

The blond turned his head to stare at him in an eerie way. He hated when Alibaba acted vague and enigmatic, it was one of the more frustrating facets of his personality. Sometimes, he acted deliberately mysterious to put people off.

"...Someone told me."

"Who?" Kassim said, anxious. If Alibaba knew about his sword and that man...he'd probably kill him.

He knew the kid would not do well if he died.

But he wanted to die.

And was it bad to die?

"... _Him._ " He said, pointing at...himself?

"Who's him? I don't see anyone, Alibaba. Have you lost your damned mind?" Kassim snapped.

The blond sighed. "He's in my mind and in my body. But he says he can smell dark "ru-" whatever crawling all over you. He's a dark being. He's been with me since I entered this world. But only I can see and hear him."

Kassim gaped, open-mouthed. "How can a human possess a djinn in their body?"

"I don't know." He said, "I'm just a unique case, I guess. He himself doesn't know too much about it, but he said he was wondering why you had a dark weapon on you."

"...That is..." Kassim muttered, "Look, Alibaba, some things aren't your business. Just drop it."

"Are you planning to hurt yourself or something? I can't lose you, too!" The blond said, grabbing his shoulders. "I care about you, dammit! Don't go doing that to yourself!"

Kassim stopped. Hearing someone say they cared about him...it always...shocked him.

 _'Why the fuck do you always do this to me? What is it about him that makes people stop and listen to him?'_

"Aren't we out for ourselves, Alibaba?" He said softly.

"Yeah," The other said, letting go of him.

"So, if we have a right to live, shouldn't we have a right to die, also?" Kassim said.

Alibaba fell silent. "Yeah..." He muttered.

"So what concern is it of yours if I choose to die? Didn't you tell me there's something called eu-eu-"

"Euthanasia? Yes. But that's for people with cancer or long-suffering illnesses. It's not meant to be a reckless choice to throw your life away." He urged.

Dammit, if there was one thing he hated about this kid (and that was very little), it was that he was too stubborn. He didn't know when to stop, and that was probably what he both loved and hated about him.

"Alibaba, I'm going to say this once: I appreciate your concern, but it's late now. Let's save the talk for later. Go back to sleep."

"But I-"

"I said, go back to sleep. You think too much, you worry too much, you always have. And your heart is too soft, you can't handle all that. Just relax."

"I can't."

"Then let me deal with this and work things out." He said simply, turning over in bed, leaving the blond staring up at the ceiling, his eyes narrowed in frustration.

* * *

'Dammit, I try so hard to make him see reason!'

' _Not everyone is going to believe you, you know, or listen_.' Dark said, putting his arms around Alibaba's shoulders, ' _I will. I have utmost loyalty in you. But definitely not in that creepy old man.'_

' _You've been avoiding him since he got here_ ,' Alibaba said in his mind, pointing over at the golden patch of light where Amon was hiding, far away from Dark, who rolled his eyes.

' _He has no sense of humor and he's boring_.' Dark muttered, ' _He treats me like I'm a plague.'_

' **You are a plague. A cursed one!** ' Amon's voice called out.

' _Shut up, Amon! He deserves to be here_!' Alibaba cried back.

 **'I'm only here because the great one told me to.'**

'I don't get his attitude. Why does he hate you so much?' Alibaba asked.

 ** _'Alibaba, there's a lot you don't know about this world and a lot you don't know about me. Yet you still continue on, with that attitude of yours. Just get some rest.'_**

 _"Okay."_

* * *

Alibaba awoke to bright sunlight and no one in the room.

He sighed.

Typical Kassim, leave town after starting an argument and then show up later.

"Where'd Kassim go?" He asked Zaynab, who shrugged.

"Hell if I know. He went skulking off. You two have a fight or something?"

"Kinda," Alibaba muttered, stifling a yawn.

"By the way," Some other gang members mentioned, "I heard that some Fanalis chick defeated one of those real bad slave traders. You know, those red-haired beasts with super strength?"

Alibaba dropped his cup of water. "Red-haired?"

"Yeah," The other said, "Red-haired and red-eyed. They say it was a teenager. I'd love to get my hands on a girl like that."

Alibaba slammed his fist on the table. "What's the one rule of the Fog Troupe?" He said simply.

"...Um...civility?"

"Chivalry. Women aren't property, and anyone who thinks otherwise can leave." He said sharply.

"Well put," Zaynab said, "I always wondered why you don't have any women yourself, since you're such a gallant lad."

"Shut up," He muttered, "I do have...sex and stuff." He said, shrugging before drinking some mead mixed with water.

"No, I mean a committed girl. Could it be that you're...?"

"I'm what?" Alibaba said, putting down the drink and staring into her eyes.

"...Homosexual?"

"No." He said.

"Then what?"

"Bisexual." He said simply.

"What's that?"

"It's where you're interested in both genders." He said, swigging down the mead.

"Well, whatever." Zaynab said, "I don't care. But maybe Kassim thinks differently."

"I'm sure he doesn't care. Doesn't he have plenty of girls go after him?" Alibaba said jauntily.

"Not really..." Zaynab muttered.

* * *

"JUDAR-CHAN, WHERE'S MY HAIRPIN?" A shriek could be heard from the yard of one of the Kou Empire's gardens.

The shriek caused a chuckle to emit from the black-haired magi who floated in the air, idly clutching a golden hairpin to his side. "Where do ya think it is, old hag?"

"Bring it here, Judar-chan! This instant!" An imperious voice demanded. The voice belonged to a teenage girl no older than sixteen, with pinkish-red hair and crimson irises that were full of fury. "When En-nii finds out-"

"Who says that old fart's gonna find out?" Judar said, floating to the ground and approaching the princess, who flushed. "Right, Kougyoku?"

Kougyoku Ren, the Eighth Princess of Kou, flinched. "A-Anyway, hand that over!"

"I think you're cute when you're angry!" Judar teased.

Kougyoku sputtered, "C-Cute!?" as he took off.

"What the heck does he mean, cute?" She muttered, holding her hairpin in her arms. "He didn't even say goodbye."

"Princess Kougyoku. It is time for your father to meet with you." Ka Koubun said from behind her.

She sighed, "All right."

"I have to marry a prince from Balbadd," She muttered in her room. "I have to marry a prince from Balbadd. No way I'm going to do that."

"Princess, you must, for the good of the Empire." Ka Koubun urged.

"I don't want toooo," She pouted.

"You must."

"Nooooo."

* * *

Alibaba sighed as he walked down the streets of Balbadd.

He liked this place...but still, he missed...Ikebukuro.

He leaned against the wall, remembering good old times, when things were better than this:

 _"Masaomi, what do you want to do?" Saki asked, leaning against him._

 _The thirteen-year old hesitated, "Maybe...go eat some pizza."_

 _"You know, Masaomi, you should smile more. It brings out smiles in other people." Saki said_.

'Of course, that was before I learned she betrayed me. Okay, but maybe she didn't want me to die,' He thought to himself, sighing as he sat on a bench.

"Did you hear? I heard a king is coming here!"

"A king?" Alibaba asked.

His eyes widened.

He thought he saw a blue-haired boy crossing the street, with a red-haired girl. Could it be...?

"Ala-" He began, but they crossed the other side without seeing him, following some naked purple-haired guy.

"What the fuck." He muttered, staring, and staring and staring.

'That's not a bad-looking...GAHH, GODDAMMIT, I NEED THERAPY AFTER SEEING THAT! WHO WALKS AROUND WITH THEIR DICK HANGING OUT? PUT ON PANTS, YOU PERVERT!' He screamed in his mind, his face bright red.

"Alibaba, I found you," Kassim said, "What's wrong?"

"I saw a naked man walking around." Alibaba stammered.

"What?" Kassim said, "Have you lost your mind?"

"No, seriously, some naked purple-haired dude was walking around."

Kassim's face drained of color.

"Alibaba, that's the King of Sindria, Sinbad."

"Their king is a nudist?" Alibaba snarked.

"Whatever that means, but that description sounds like him, all right. Be careful."

"I will," Alibaba nodded mutely as he continued on back to the base.

They had an operation to cover tonight, after all.

He put his hand on the mirror. He almost swore he saw a teenager in a yellow scarf looking back...before it just faded into his own reflection again.

"Those days are gone. I'm not the Shogun anymore, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not!" He screamed, pounding his fists on the table before sighing.

"I can never escape it, can I? I'll always be stuck in this role." He muttered, yanking at his scarf.

His eyes hardened. "Oh, well, tonight I have a fucking role to play. Might as well do it."

* * *

"Why does Kassim insist on having us sneak around in the dark like ninja? It's not cool, and it sucks." Alibaba complained.

"Hush!" One of the others said, "You'll get us caught."

"Okay," He said to the others.

"Spoilsports." He grumbled.

"Alibaba-you stay here," Kassim ordered, "I need to bring that king out."

Then purple grape juice floated through the air and dragged a red-haired girl out...Morgiana?

Yep, that was definitely her.

And...then a giant arrived.

Yep, definitely Aladdin.

"Wait." Alibaba urged Kassim, going forward and unmasking himself.

"Alibaba-kun?" Aladdin asked, and the look on his face...fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Blue eyes, filled with heartbreak and betrayal.

For a sheer second, he stopped. He couldn't say anything. He just stared.

"Mika-" He began, but stopped.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Why are you in a gang?"

"Reasons. Now, please put Ugo away. I don't want to do this, but I have to." He whispered the last part.

"Aren't we going to go adventuring?"

Goddammit...why did he have to have the same eyes as him?

"Yeah...once this is over..." He said, smiling softly. "But right now, I have to do this. Sorry..."

"GODDAMMIT, I'M A FUCKING IDIOT!" He growled in his room. "I just ruined my first and only friendship in this world that isn't twisted in some way."

Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed him.

It was Morgiana.

"W-What the _fuc_ -"

"Say anything and I'll break your teeth." Morgiana hissed.

Then, began a long, grueling torture session of questions.

"Why are you in a gang?"

"It's complicated."

"Explain to Aladdin."

"I can't say."

"Yes, you can! What's going on with you?" She said.

He laughed. "Anyone who gets involved with me dies. Leave, this isn't your business."

The crack in the floor made him jump a little.

"Intimidation's not gonna work."

"Then I guess going for a ride will."

"You're not seriously going to swing me around like Batman, are you?" He said, but upon being thrown out the window by a crazy Fanalis, he kept his mouth shut and just kept a pout on his face.

"You're not even reacting." She said, but then suddenly his eyes trailed down to...a...stream. His eyes bugged out comically.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH, WATER!"

She grinned, "I'll drop you in if you don't apologize to Aladdin."

"No, please, anything but that filthy.. _.blue stuff!_ Please! I'll even cut my hair off! Just...not...the blue stuff."

A few seconds later, a splash could be heard.

Then, Alibaba got out, screaming bloody murder and frantically trying to dry his clothes off.

"Ready?" Morgiana said, grabbing him again and taking off, despite the teen's protests.

"Fuck you." He snarled.

Upon being dangled upside down, he shut up.

"Good. Your mouth needs to remain closed sometimes, Mr. Hero." She snarked.

* * *

Then he was flung into a room with Aladdin in it, who was...crying?

Oh god, place him with a crying little kid. Ultimate manipulation tactic.

Include the fact that his eyes were the same shade as You-Know-Who, and it worked.

"Alibaba-kun?" He said in disbelief.

"Hi, Aladdin, sorry for being a prick! I didn't want to, but I had to-"

Upon seeing the redhead make a gesture like water, he froze.

"I'm sorry, I was put up to it by my friend and he doesn't listen very well."

"Better," She said.

"I'm really fucking sorry!"

"I already forgave you."

Alibaba's mouth fell open. "Um, I didn't tell you guys much about me, huh? I was born here in the slums with my mother and-" He launched into the lie Kassim had told him to tell.

It was a hell of a lot better than the truth, after all, him being found when he was nothing but a mere street urchin.

* * *

 _"Go away." He said, scooting away._

 _The kid scooted near him._

 _The blond teen glared._

 _"Hungry?" He held out an apple._

 _The blond turned away. "I want to die."_

 _"What's wrong with you? Shouldn't you want to live?"_

 _The blond sighed. "In case you couldn't see, life hates m"Hey, what are you doing here?"_

 _Kida looked up in time to see a brown-haired youth looking at him._

 _"Dying. Now please, go away and leave me alone."_

 _"Nope, you're not dying on my watch." The boy said, plopping down beside him. "What's your name? Mine's Kassim."_

 _e and now I want to die. So kindly let me die. Everyone I cared about betrayed me, so I have nothing to live for anymore. So please, just let me die in peace and leave me alone."_

 _Silence for a few moments...then...a piece of apple was shoved into his mouth._

 _"Shut up and eat."_

 _Kida gagged and spat it out. "What the hell, man? I just told you-"_

 _"To leave you alone? I refuse."_

 _"You're an idiot!" He protested._

 _"If you're nothing, like you keep saying you are, then I'll be something with you. How's that?"_

 _Kida started to break down crying. "Shut up...you idiot! You're an idiottttt!"_

 _"You like to cry a lot, huh?"_

 _"S-Shut up!" He sniffed._

 _"It's okay to live."_

 _Upon seeing the blond's teary eyes again, he sighed._

 _"Don't start wailing on me!"_

 _"I'm not!" He said, wiping his tears away. "It's just been...forever since anyone told me that."_

 _"Wow, you're really emo."_

 _"I'm not emo...you idiot!" Then he started laughing. "I haven't laughed in what feels like forever."_

 _"Really? Well, I can take care of you from now on-"_

 _"Who said you could just-"_

 _"Shh! You need to eat!"_

 _"I'm gonna punch you!" The blond snapped._

 _"Blondie, what's your name?"_

 _"It's Masaomi...Kida Masaomi." He muttered, a faint blush on his face._

 _"You'll be my little brother from now on!"_

 _"You can't just arbitrarily decide, you jerk!"_

Those days had been good and warm...up until the betrayal.

* * *

Mikado awoke, staring at the ceiling.

"Why did I dream about people fighting with swords? Is Masaomi out there...somewhere?"

He scratched his head. "The boy in that dream looked like Kida-kun."


	4. Chapter 4 A princess king oh my

A/N: Here we go with the next chapter! In this chapter, Judar gets into trouble, is intrigued by both Aladdin and Alibaba, and Kougyoku and Alibaba meet in a disastrous way. It'll be a hilarious read, so do please hang around for the fun chapter.

So last we met Mor was critiquing Baba and trying to figure out why he was being a jerk and we got to see a little bit of Kassim and Kida's backstory, but we'll see the full story later on.

""Love, like everything else in life, should be a discovery, an adventure, and like most adventures, you don't know you're having one until you're right in the middle of it."

* * *

― E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly

Chapter 4 The Princess, The Magi and the frustrated Prince

Sinbad, Alibaba had to conclude, wasn't just stupid.

He was _royally, insanely, stupid_. So stupid that it was frustrating as hell to be around the man without wanting to facepalm at how stupid he was.

Who the fuck walks around naked like that? In front of a child, no less!

He sighed, putting his hands on his hips, refusing to look at the man before him. God, what a childish and ridiculous person! How this man could be a fucking king, let alone, rule over an entire country, was beyond him!

How he longed to be back in Ikebukuro, where things at least made an ounce of fucking sense. At least there weren't any giant man-eating monsters there, at least there weren't crazy djinns, and other stuff.

' _Calm down, calm down_.' He told himself, _'It's up to me to act rationally so he doesn't figure me out.'_

"Alibaba-kun." Aladdin reassured him. "It'll be all right. No one is here to hurt you."

He didn't understand why the blond always acted like a caged animal about to strike. There was nothing for him to be afraid of, here. The purple-haired man was nice enough, even if he happened to be naked for a while.

The people here all seemed very nice.

* * *

"Alibaba-kun?" He asked, touching the blond, who suddenly recoiled at the close contact, smacking his hand away rather violently.

"Don't just touch me like that!" He snapped. Upon realizing where he was, he grimaced slightly.

"Alibaba-kun, mind telling me in more detail about why you formed the Fog Troupe?" Sinbad asked gently, amber eyes staring into golden, wolf's eyes gazing into fox, as if sniffing him out. Give me all your secrets, those eyes seemed to say, and I'll rip you apart with my bare fangs.

Like hell he would.

All he gave him was a defiant stare in response. "It was Kassim's idea." He grumbled.

That was half-true. It had been Kassim who had gotten him into that idea to begin with. The brunette had noticed how he'd been having a difficult time dealing with this new, insane world, and as a result, he'd pulled him up by his bootstraps and given him a new head start.

Which, ironically, was once again, being the leader of a _gang._ Yes, he'd chewed Kassim out when he'd learned the truth before the other had calmed him down. His mind couldn't help but drift back into how they'd first met, in order to distract him from the very, very, annoying man known as Sinbad before him, who never knew how to shut the hell up for one second.

Currently, he was chattering to Aladdin about his country, Sindria. One would think he was a snake oil salesman from how he was talking, he was some cheapo who walked out of a car commercial-not that Sinbad had any idea of what a car was, and it was probably better for him that he didn't know. Sinbad absolutely must not learn of his real name, nor his real heritage.

He must continue playing the dumb act until it was suitable enough to lose the mask of the idiot. Then and only then, could he try and "believe" in the man before him, as much as it wounded his pride to do so.

His eyes narrowed as he thought about how he'd first met Kassim, they had both been stubborn little kids with a rebellious streak. Perhaps that was what had drawn Kassim to the snarky, lost little gang leader kid from another world when others had just ignored him.

* * *

 _"Hey, what are you doing here?"_

 _Golden irises looked up at the new kid before trailing back to the ground. "Dying."_

 _"What? You can't just die here!" The brown-haired kid cried. "Are you nuts?"_

 _The boy looked up at the other, laughing. "Maybe. I was busy dying, so if you'd mind leaving-"_

 _"No way in hell I'm letting a kid like you starve!" He yelped, "Anyway, what's your name?"_

 _"I'm...nothing."_

 _"Nah, you don't look like nothing to me. You look like a kid. A lost, lonely kid." The other concluded. "But, if I'm with you, you'll be something, right?"_

 _He laughed, the first genuine laugh he'd had in a long time. "You idiot, you can't just go around making up arbitrary rules like that! I said I'm gonna die, so let me die!"_

 _"I can't let you die now that I've met you!" The brunette said, grabbing him and pulling him to his feet._

 _The blond accepted his hand and the two ran off, laughing._

 _But...was that my mistake?_

 _Did I err there?_

 _Were the events that ensued afterwards my fault?_

 _He stood outside a palace, watching it in flames._

 _"What the hell-"_

 _A fist, slammed into his gut._

 _"I'm sorry, Masaomi, but this is for your own good."_

 _Kassim's voice, hissing like a thousand daggers stabbing into his skin, as he fell into the blackness._

* * *

"Alibaba-kun!"

Alibaba's eyes snapped open.

Apparently, he'd decided to take a nap while in Sinbad's presence.

He let out a sharp gasp, eyes widening for a second before he frowned. "What were we talking about again?"

Sinbad frowned, keeping the patient smile on his face. It was obvious he wanted to stab the blond prince.

"You really surprised me with how good of a sword fighter you were, Alibaba-kun, but then you got injured and passed out, so good of Morgiana there to take you back, huh?"

 _'Once again, I'm rescued by her?_ ' He thought in exasperation. Why did she do so much for him?

He saw the Fanalis, watching him with an indecipherable expression on her face.

"I treated you when you went into your room and were injured. For some reason, you were hiding yourself and you wouldn't come out until I left, why?" She asked, tilting her head.

"That's...cuz I was naked." He muttered.

"I thank you for your sensitivity, but I don't need that kind of treatment." Morgiana muttered.

Dear god, what had that stupid fuck done to this girl?

He should've stabbed him a couple more times...

"You're pretty cute, though. You are my friend." He muttered, "And it's not proper for a gentleman to masquerade around naked in front of a young lady." He shot a glance at Sinbad, who paled.

"Hey now, it wasn't my fault. My clothing was stolen from me!" Sinbad whined, not sure why he had the ire of the blond prince on him now.

"Alibaba-kun, I'd like it if you went and talked to your brother."

Alibaba chuckled. "What purpose would that achieve?" He said.

"What made you so distant?" Sinbad asked.

"I don't know, maybe the way in which he doesn't treat me like his brother." He said icily. 'He's actually right.' He thought.

"Now I'm sure that whatever grievances you have between each other can be solved with a good old sibling talk." He said, acting as though it didn't matter.

As they talked, Morgiana thought back to the previous night, where she'd asked Alibaba something and he'd acted in a completely confusing way-but when didn't he?

 _"Alibaba, who are you?"_

 _His eyes flickered and his face turned cold, for a second she thought she was looking at an actual prince, at a cold person. "Wouldn't you like to know?"_

 _She shuddered. "What the-"_

 _"Some secrets, Morgiana, are better left unsaid. And sometimes, it's better that you don't know, for your own safety." His smile curved downwards into a sad and melancholy look._

 _Again, loneliness seemed to just flow off him in waves._

 _"It's best if you just don't know, that's all I ask, please." He said, reaching out suddenly and embracing her._

 _For the first time, Alibaba was showing her affection. "Please, I ask that you don't involve yourself anymore in this, it's too dangerous, what I'm trying to do."_

 _"Quit running off by yourself all the time!" She demanded. "Don't you care for your life?"_

 _The devilish grin he shot her told her his answer._

 _"Who knows..." He muttered, suddenly flicking her forehead._

 _"What does that mean?" She asked._

 _"It's a teasing gesture, like when you pat someone on the head."_

 _"You really are an enigma." She muttered._

 _"I aim to be that way," He purred._

 _She flushed._

Something about his attitude both frustrated her and made her...heart pound? Was she...attracted to him? Oh, please, like she could be attracted to a jerk like him!

Although, the hug made her feel warm just thinking about it.

"Mor-san, are you all right?" Aladdin asked, noticing how quiet the Fanalis was.

"I'm just fine," She replied, still a bit dazed and shocked by the fact that the young man had actually shown her genuine emotion for once.

"Alibaba-kun." Aladdin said, casting his gaze back at Alibaba, who was sitting with his head bowed low.

"I'm not cut out to be a king," He whined, "I can't do it. There's no guarantee he'll even listen to me."

Aladdin's eyes narrowed. Was this the real Alibaba-kun, or some kind of trick?

As if reading his thoughts, Mor spoke up. "I think he's acting."

Alibaba had to almost laugh at the way the silver-haired man behind Sinbad was chuckling, apparently having seen through his corny acting.

"What's so funny, Jafar?" Sinbad demanded.

"He is acting." Jafar pointed out.

"Acting? No, he's not." Sinbad insisted.

"I'll go do it...if it means, doing it for my people..." He muttered, standing up, a blazing fire in his eyes.

"That's the spirit!" Sinbad said, slapping him on the back.

"Asshole," He whispered under his breath.

"Did you say something, Alibaba-kun?"

Alibaba stared back at the "terrifying" king and smiled nonchalantly. "I didn't say anything!"

"My hearing must be failing me." Sinbad said.

As Alibaba made eye contact with the red-haired man, though, the red-haired man stared him down. Masrur, was that his name? Gosh, he was intimidating.

Were all Fanalis like this?

"You," He spoke up, "You're different from the others. You are one who sticks out so much even though you try to hide."

"Um, excuse me-" Alibaba began, but he wouldn't stop.

"Someone whose aura burns bright like that of a warrior, yet he is only out for himself. You are also someone who hides in plain sight and you are also a brave, yet also foolish, outsider."

"Um, thanks for the fortune-telling?" Alibaba said, a little creeped out.

"Not fortune-telling, just simple observation." Masrur said, "Any of my tribe would not miss an extraordinary scent like yours."

"Whatever you say!" He said cheerfully.

"Masrur, whatever was that about?" Sinbad asked.

"Oh, nothing." He said.

"Whatever you said there must have been pretty scary. You left Alibaba-kun a shaking mess. I bet he's scared." Sinbad said with a laugh.

"I doubt it." Masrur spoke, turning to look at where the young man had been previously-only to find the spot gone.

' _He's run off, eh? What is he_?' He thought, curious to know more about the strange young man who was not who he claimed to be.

Outside, Alibaba punched a tree over and over, cursing out loud.

"Goddammit, I'm not going to let others in, not again! Not like last time! Not like...Saki.." He muttered, images of the girl he'd always wished he could forget coming into his mind as he lay there.

Then images of the girl, Morgiana, overlapping with her-why couldn't he just forget all of it?

He fell to his knees.

"Alibaba-kun?"

It was Aladdin.

Alibaba turned back around with a smile on his face. "Sorry, Aladdin, I just came out here to think about things."

"Really?"

"I'm just a bit nervous, but I'm sure I can overcome it and get to face my brother in no time!" He exclaimed.

* * *

' _Back here again, huh?_ ' Alibaba thought, sneering at the palace walls before him-the place that had kept him prisoner because-oh well, he decided not to think about it as he headed in with Sinbad behind him.

"Who is this?" Abhmad sneered.

' _Well, my hair has grown out a lot, no wonder he doesn't recognize me_.' Alibaba thought. "Pleasure to meet you again, brother." He said snidely.

"You!" Abhmad bristled.

"Yes, me," He replied back, "I think you should do something about the people of Balbadd. They're all upset, and you have the power to quell them. I don't see you doing anything in your power to help the people of this country, and that is why I have come today to implore you to use your influence to help them-isn't that what a ruler is supposed to do?"

"You've got a lot of nerve talking to me like that, trash!"

So spoiled Abhmad still threw a fit when shit he couldn't understand got thrown in his face? God, he was glad he wasn't related to these two. The other guy was okay, but this one-he hated him.

He _hated_ him.

"Alibaba-kun, I understand your feelings, but we must solve this diplomatically." Sinbad explained.

"You're the one who was in charge of those thieves!"

Ignoring Abhmad's taunts, he continued on. "Yes, I did it so you would realize how serious the situation is. I ask that you show your support for the people."

"Blah, blah, blah, I really can't stand to hear what that trash says."

Alibaba's eyes flashed with anger. He said nothing and stood there. "Would you like it if I punched your face in, you fucking bastard?" He spoke calmly, maintaining steady eye contact with Abhmad, who cowered upon feeling the sudden wave of anger coming from the teen.

He'd always known the brat to be a rude, arrogant brat, but like this?

It was deadly.

"Alibaba-kun, calm down." Sinbad urged.

None of them had understood a word he'd just said, of course. He'd spoken in Japanese.

Alibaba turned upon feeling Dark nudge him all of a sudden.

 **"I feel some dark rukh nearby."**

" _Like who?_ " Alibaba asked in his mind, and Dark pointed over to a new figure, a man with long dark hair in a braid and red eyes.

"Izaya...?" He muttered.

His eyes widened as flashbacks rang through his head, flashbacks to the man who'd ruined his life, the man who'd ruined everything-no, the clothes were different, the way of carrying himself was different, and the eyes more crazed. He definitely wasn't Izaya, but he looked a lot like him.

"Ha, there you are, stupid king!"

' _On second thought_ ,' Alibaba thought, ' _Even Izaya had a sense of decorum. This guy just says whatever he wants.'_

"Alibaba-kun, we're done here." Sinbad urged.

"But I-" He began, but upon seeing Sinbad sigh, he lowered his head and smirked.

He'd managed to scare the hell out of Abhmad and convince Sinbad he was nothing more than an ill-tempered brat.

Unbeknownst to Alibaba, his smirk did not go unnoticed by Judar, who looked a bit curious.

* * *

That boy looked very much like an impulsive, whiny brat, however Judar had felt a curious sensation coming from the boy as he made eye contact with him. The way the boy was staring at him...oh, ohhhhhh, Sinbad, he was so stupid!

How could Sinbad not see that the boy was playing him for a fool? Oh, he had seen the way the boy's smile changed from a foolish one to a calculating grin. And...the feeling he was getting from him, oh yes, that feeling, a feeling of nostalgia and something else he wasn't aware of, the feeling of excitement and of blood brothers, of something that they had in common uniting them both-those were the feelings he had gotten upon locking eyes with the boy.

He'd noticed how all his dark rukh had suddenly gotten excited, floating around him and being even more full of life than they usually were, fluttering around and whispering excitedly to themselves. They'd started making noise and making a ruckus.

There was only one reason why they would be doing that. One reason and one reason only, and he couldn't believe Sinbad hadn't noticed.

"That brat is full of darkness. But, I'm more curious about the other energy I felt. Still, I definitely want to know why Sinbad has a fallen one with him. It seems not even he has realized it yet." He purred.

Oh, yes, he was happy.

Meeting another fallen person definitely made his day much nicer.

'Whoever he is...he's going to make an interesting opponent for sure...now where'd that stupid hag get to?' He asked himself.

* * *

-Elsewhere, on the other side of town-

"Can you tell me my fortune?" A high voice exclaimed, as a red-haired girl leaned over excitedly, trying to peer into the water to see her future lover.

An image of a pig man appeared.

The water distorted to reveal a boy with a point on his head. He looked ugly.

"No, that can't be the one for me!" She shrieked.

The next one showed a figure with a ponytail.

"Judar-chan?" She exclaimed, but the figure's ponytail was different.

She flushed. "That's the man I want!" She yelped.

"Someone fitting that description did pass by." The old man said.

"Who was he?" She shouted, feeling her heart pound.

"He was a little boy."

Her face fell.

"No way! You must be mistaken! Please look again!" She howled.

The figure with the ponytail appeared again.

"Then it must be Judar-chan," She whispered, speaking of which where was he? He'd disappeared again. "Where did he go, Ka Koubun?"

"He can't have gone too far, princess, and you are here to marry Prince Abhmad."

"Yes, I know." She said in a hushed voice. She didn't want to marry anyone, she just wanted to be her own person. But apparently, she didn't have a voice.

Suddenly, a blond blur ran right past her, almost knocking into her.

"Hey, watch it!" She yelped.

"Sorry," He said.

As he stopped to catch his breath, she noticed he had golden eyes, a very curious eye color that had Kougyoku staring. He didn't look very smart, at first glance.

Messy blond hair, but the golden eyes...they felt like a prince's eyes. She thought that she was looking at a prince, but it faded when she saw his clueless look.

 _'I'm just imagining things,_ ' She whined in her mind.

"Quit staring at me like an idiot!" She snapped.

"Hm," He muttered, "Your hair...your clothes...you look like a watermelon!"

"I'm not pregnant, you rude-"

"Relax, I was teasing. Actually, you remind me a lot of a...um, you remind me a lot of a carnation."

"What's that?" She asked.

"It's a kind of flower, a very pretty kind of flower. It's very beautiful."

"B-Beautiful?" She muttered.

"I insist that you step away from the princess this instant!" Ka Koubun demanded.

"Princess, hm? So you're a princess, are you?" He was sparkling.

"Take your hands off me!" She yelped. "You're just a flirt!"

"Regardless, you _are_ kind of cute," He purred as he disappeared.

"What an odd boy." She sighed.

"Princess...I think that boy is one of the princes of Balbadd." Ka Koubun muttered.

"WHAT?" She shrieked. "You're kidding me, right?"

An arrogant, ill-mannered brat like that was a prince? Heaven help her.

What if this kid became her in-law?

She couldn't stand the thought of being near someone like him.

"And that's when he touched me, Judar-chan!"

Judar's eyes widened. "You should have told me you met that brat! I wish I'd been there to see it! How hilarious, I've gotta go see him, but there's something else I need to investigate first."

"Judar-chan, do be careful."

"Oh, I'll be fine, you know me."

* * *

Elsewhere, Alibaba wondered why Dark was acting up.

" **He's coming...a Dark Magi..."**

" _There's such a thing as a Dark Magi?_ " Alibaba asked.

" **Yes...I suspect he knows about us, so I don't want my existence to be leaked out to that man.** "

Alibaba's gaze lingered on Sinbad, who was lost in conversation with Jafar and Masrur. " _Yes, he's much more clever than he seems to be, so I'm not going to show everything."_

 **"That's very wise."**

 _"Of course, have I ever been stupid_?" Alibaba retorted.

" **Sometimes."**

"Yo, stupid king!"

It was the dark-haired magi, who was floating in midair, looking down at them. "Who's the blue-haired brat?"

"This is Aladdin, he's a magi." Sinbad introduced.

"Eh, he can't be one, he's too short." Judar complained.

Nonetheless, the one calling himself Judar appeared, shook Aladdin's hand and then punched him in the face.

Alibaba's eyes narrowed in anger.

"You..." He began.

"You're the prince that was whining earlier, huh? Kinda pathetic." He said, laughing.

"Don't _ever_ call me pathetic," He said in a quiet voice.

Why was he so damned calm?

"Did I touch a nerve?" Judar taunted.

"No, not exactly," He said cheerfully, however there was a terrifying aura radiating from him, "You've just made me want to destroy you."

Judar suddenly felt a strong killing urge and instead of retreating as most would, he was intrigued. "I sense that you're special, kid. Like me, right?" He said softly.

His eyes widened.

"I don't know why this stupid king here can't see that, but-"

"Judar, what did you come here for?"

"Why, to speak to the Magi, of course, and to laugh at this pathetic brat!" He said before pointing at Alibaba.

"Why would you punch a kid?" Alibaba pointed out.

"Because I felt like it." He said, "Hey, kid, is this guy your king vessel?"

"I am." He spoke quietly.

"He's pathetic. He can't even fight back."

Before Judar could react, suddenly the blond was charging at him, moving very fast, with a strange form of fighting he'd never seen before. He tried to punch him, but Judar dodged and sent him flying with one quick spell.

"Interesting style you've got there, however..."

"Alibaba-kun, don't try to fight him!" Aladdin warned.

"Alibaba-san, are you all right?" Morgiana said worriedly.

Damn, he would keep his eyes on her...face. Yes, her face.

"What was that you did?" She asked.

"A technique I learned as a kid." He muttered, getting back up, "It's mostly with your fists and defensive."

"More like _offensive_ , to me." She said, "Be more careful."

"You really don't need to worry about me." He said, softly.

Then like that, Ugo appeared and a fight began between Ugo and Judar, as Ugo attacked him after Judar had attacked Aladdin.

Until...Ugo suddenly went out of control and attacked Judar, bashing him into the ground...and he was lying there, half-dead.

And then...

"What is this monster doing to poor Judar-chan?"

He took in the same red-haired princess as before.

"It's that rude boy!" She exclaimed.

"And it's the bratty girl." He replied cheerily.

"Judar-chan," She whispered, "Are you with those monsters? I take it you know that monster?"

"That monster...?" Alibaba whispered, feeling his fists shake.

"I will destroy him...for touching Judar-chan!" She bellowed, her hands going to her hairpin and suddenly, a sword was in her hands, and then the next second, a giant wall of water was there.

Alibaba instantly eeped and stepped backwards.

However, the red-haired girl was too busy fighting Ugo to really notice his fear, or care. All that mattered to her, clearly, was avenging her friend, though how she could call that person a friend was beyond his interest or his concern.

He only cared if she tried to go after his friends or himself.

"Die, you monster!" She finally killed Ugo.

"Ugo-kun!" Aladdin cried.

Alibaba felt his heart stop.

"I did nothing to help...and someone just died..." He muttered.

 _'No matter what you do...people will die because of you...they will hate you...'_

"That's not true..." He whispered, pounding the ground with his fists.

His head suddenly hurt. Why did his head hurt?

He felt a strange burning sensation, and then...an urge to destroy. But he held it back.

"Slaughter all of them!"

Sure enough, everything became sheer hell.

Suddenly, they were all fighting wild beasts.

On top of meeting a psychopathic princess, he'd also won Morgiana's trust.

* * *

"Hey, Alibaba, I heard you pissed off a princess of the Kou Empire." Kassim taunted, for some reason he'd stopped by the palace to chat.

"Oh, screw off, it was nothing that bad." Alibaba whined. "So why are you meeting us over here?"

"Don't know. Maybe I wanna discuss things with Sinbad?"

"Whoa, talk about a change in personality! You're not up to anything, are you?" He boomed. "I mean, if you were plotting anything, I wouldn't forgive you."

Kassim sighed. "No, it has to do with you, though. I mean, if that king discovers who you really are, I can't let that happen."

"Good to know you've got my back! This is Aladdin! Aladdin, meet Kassim."

Aladdin didn't budge, simply staring at Kassim.

The blue-haired kid shook his hand, stiffly.

"This is Morgiana."

"Oh, the violent girl from before?"

Upon seeing the girl just pout, Kassim snickered.

"Do you like her?"

"I don't know, I flirted with the princess."

"You did?" Kassim said in disbelief. "Alibaba's becoming more of a man."

"Shut up, it's not like that at all!" Alibaba whined.

'I'm so sorry, Mikado, I didn't mean to! You know I love you more than anything!'

"Princess, you mustn't get so upset over a boy like that!" Koubun assured.

"Those rude people! Especially that blond boy, I hate him! And that blue-haired brat...wait a second..."

Her eyes widened as she realized he matched the description of the boy who was supposed to be her dream man who had appeared in the water before.

"WHAT THE HELL?" She boomed, causing Ka Koubun to tell her to stop cursing and the other magic dungeon monsters who were with her to flinch and cover their ears.

* * *

21st century-Ikebukuro, Japan

Elsewhere, Mikado awoke, staring at his drawing of the people in his dream. Masaomi was there, but so was an odd girl with red hair and a boy with blue hair.

"Did I draw this in my sleep?" He muttered sleepily.


	5. Chapter 5 Dark Prince

_**A/N: For those who didn't get the memo, this is Dark!Alibaba, meaning he is half-fallen. This means, he is quite willing to get his hands dirty. He is not a heroic, innocent cinnamon roll. I daresay he might explicitly kill people onscreen if he has to. He is more like Judal or Hakuryuu in that he's willing to get his hands dirty to achieve what he needs to do. Just a warning, this chapter might have some mild graphic imagery. (Also: people he kills are normally dicks or terrible people.) Despite all this, he's our protagonist, everyone!**_

 _ **(More of his past will be revealed throughout this chapter, but how he got there won't be disclosed until much later.)**_

 _ **""After a traumatic experience, the human system of self-preservation seems to go onto permanent alert, as if the danger might return at any moment."**_

― _**Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror**_ _ **(goodreads quotes / tag/ trauma.**_

 _ **Chapter 5 Prince of Flames**_

* * *

One thing he could say for sure-was that it was hot as fuck out here, in the desert sun.

So hot, in fact, that he thought he would almost burn up from the heat. For some reason, he was never really affected by heat, it was a strange sensation, he thought, as he lay in bed next to the young boy, who had introduced himself as Kassim. He was a boy, who, much like him, felt a desire to prove himself to a world who had abandoned him and left him to die simply because of what he was or who he was.

Golden eyes flickered up to the sight of the giant white moon, which he could clearly see outside his window, as he shifted slightly in his bed. Kassim didn't seem to mind, given that he was snoring loudly, oblivious to the fourteen year old's inner dilemma or his true thoughts.

He was such a heavy sleeper, it took him shouting at him sometimes to get him to wake up sometimes. The former gang leader scratched his head in disbelief.

He knew that both of them had worked hard today, but still, he wasn't quite sure if he liked the idea of being a thief, but it was better than being dead. Much better than being dead, he assured himself, glancing down at his hands.

Ever since he'd gotten here, his body had slowly grown acclimated to the odd new world around him and his new atmosphere, adjusting to the awfully hot weather, though the nights here were still bitterly cold, he thought, shaking slightly. He never even knew the desert could be so bloody cold at night! He'd foolishly assumed it all was the same even at night!

One thing he'd noticed that had changed about him was his skin tone, which had slowly tanned from its original olive color, thanks to frequent sun exposure. His hair had become dirtier and more tangled, thanks to not having modern conveniences lying around.

He was just now starting to recover from being a starving little waif, with his muscles slowly coming back and he looked more like a regular teen now than a starveling thanks to his steady diet of regular food and water. At first, he'd required only little pieces of food every day, due to starvation causing him to throw up the food.

But now, months later, he was more well-suited to the food and so it no longer made him gag every time he opened his mouth.

The oddest change of all, he thought, was to his hair. Yes, that was odder than the demon now dwelling inside his body that could hear his every thought, watch his every dream and hear his every scream during said dreams. Maybe it was just harder to get used to your hair having been one color and then suddenly being another thanks to magic.

His hair now had more of a point sticking up and was messier. Also, on top of that, it was now permanently blond. It was very strange.

As Kida Masaomi sat up further, he happened to notice that there was food laid out for him on a table. Apparently, Kassim had prepared him some while he was preoccupied with reading a book in the strange language he and his ilk spoke, attempting to soak in as much of this world as he could.

He slowly picked up the food, an odd-looking sandwich that had something resembling a tomato in the middle, cheese that was a strange color, and some sort of meat in the middle and took a bite. He instantly gagged.

It tasted awfully...bitter, for some reason. Why was the tomato so bitter?

"Thanks, Kassim." He muttered, even while attempting to rid his mouth of the awful taste of the not-tomato.

"Eat slowly." He heard Kassim mutter in his sleep.

Ever since he'd come here, he'd noticed how Kassim tended to dote on him...like a true brother. At first, he'd thought he couldn't shake off the first brother figure he'd ever had...before coldly reminding himself that he had left him to die, covered in his own blood.

'Izaya...' He thought darkly, glaring at the not-tomato and grasping it in his hands, staring at it. It was a strange kind of vegetable that he'd never seen before. Well, of course not, everything in this whole goddamned world was foreign to him. He wasn't meant to be here to begin with.

He angrily squeezed the small, round vegetable and then got squirted in the face by some kind of strange blue juice. Flinching, he jumped backwards. "What the fuck?" He yelped.

Kassim laughed slightly, sitting up. "Those fruits can be quite challenging to eat from how funny they taste."

"I thought they were a vegetable!" Kida protested.

"No, they're a fruit." Kassim assured, yawning loudly. "You woke me up with your pathetic attempt to eat that sandwich."

As he stared into Kassim's amber orbs, he was still reminded of the fact that Kassim was still a stranger, and he was not yet sure if he could trust in him or not.

Kida frowned and shifted slightly. "Hey, Kassim, if anything ever happens...could anything ever happen that would make you hate me?" He said it between mouthfuls of the odd sandwich, minus the nasty-tasting fruit, which was now sitting on his plate, having been removed by him.

"What's this about?" Kassim asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Like, you know, if the nobles kidnap me or something." He muttered.

"Unlikely to happen, they just see the both of us as worthless street kids." Kassim scoffed.

"No, seriously, what if I get abducted or something?" He cried.

"If that happens, I'm not going to hate you. I'll understand that it wasn't your fault, all right? Now continue eating."

"All right, with or without the devil fruit?" He asked.

Kassim blinked, "Without the fruit you hate so much. You have such a sweet tooth that you won't touch any fruit that's the slightest bit bitter."

Kida's eyes lit up upon seeing one of the fruits he loved most sitting on the table-a round, red, ripe fruit attached to a bright stem. "Are those...?" He began.

"Cherries? Yeah. I stole some." Kassim said cheerfully, "Snatched em from a noble bastard before he even could turn around."

"Thanks!" He chirped.

* * *

Somehow, even as he ate the rest of his food that night, he still couldn't help but have misgivings about Kassim. He wasn't sure it was okay to steal and steal and steal without repaying others, no matter how mean these nobles were.

He soon learned all too soon just how right his friend was when he was abducted and forced to be a noble prince. Kassim wouldn't talk to him afterwards, all he'd done was fold his arms and just turn away, even as he was led away by some scary-looking palace guards.

"I'm not playing this game!" He snapped, at this crazy bastard who'd just abducted him from where he'd felt at home, to play some mad game of pretend. Could he just fucking go back home now? He'd had enough adventures, thank you!

"You are my son." The insane man continued to say.

He already had two other kids, why the fuck did he need to abduct random kids off the street for it? Was he some sort of psycho?

He kept saying this shit in an imperious tone, acting like some overgrown child. Like hell he could just kidnap him and expect him to obey! He wasn't going to play this game.

"I don't like the idea of lying, and that stupid asshole already knows! He tried to beat the crap out of me." He scoffed, folding his arms. He was not going by that stupid name he'd been given by Kassim-like hell he'd ever go by it.

The king just laughed. "You remind me of myself when I was younger, Mr. Visitor from another reality."

Kida froze in his tracks, golden eyes widening. "How do you know that?"

"You left your journal open and I read it." He said, as if such an act wasn't creepy in the slightest.

"T-That's private!" He snapped, his face bright red.

"Regardless of whether or not you aren't my son by blood, you are still my son to me, so you must train and make me proud."

He shook his head, defiantly. "I've never had a father figure." His gaze went to the ground then.

"Well, now you can start." He said, approvingly.

He felt a strange urge to want to make this man proud, but he still wasn't happy about the fact that he'd been kidnapped. Stockholm Syndrome, he thought bitterly as he went about playing pretend in this magical kingdom of pretend, where faces glared at him from behind closed doors, where Abhmad called him a disgusting brat and then retreated when Kida threatened to beat him up.

He'd punched Abhmad in the face for trying to steal food from him, and then threatened to do worse if he didn't keep his hands to himself. He found uttering threats while smiling utterly terrified Abhmad, so he was much more likely to tiptoe around him instead of piss him off.

Ah, those lovely tactics had worked so well as a gang leader. Find the one person who doesn't respect you and make sure they understand just who they're dealing with. He might be small, but damned if he didn't have willpower and the ability to back up his talk.

He'd even yelled at Sahbahmad for trying to sneak into his room and read his diary.

For a while, it was refreshing to fall into the fantasy, but he was slowly losing himself throughout the process. For some strange reason, the longer he was here in this world, the less he could remember of his old world, and it was maddening. It caused him to cry tears of frustration sometimes when he would wake up and try to write down names, places, things, and forget.

He couldn't remember what day it had been when he left, he couldn't remember his favorite candy, he couldn't remember what Saki liked anymore. He was losing himself, somehow, but in retrospect, it might have just been the inherent trauma-the inherent bruise, from everything he'd gone through up to that point, that allowed him to wear a happy mask for a while and pretend everything was okay.

That was about the time he'd begun constructing his...masks. The masks he wore to fool others into thinking he was happy when he actually wasn't. He was quite a skilled actor, he thought, as he managed to fool and trick people into thinking he was actually some dim-witted fool they could order around and whip if he didn't do their slave labor fast enough for their tastes.

It become maddeningly simple after a while, turn around, smile apologetically, say you didn't mean to and look totally clueless while doing it and then some nobles would start treating you nicely, start saying you were the best idiot they ever hired and even give you extra money or gifts.

He felt terrible to know he'd lied and deceived these outdated people, but honestly he could care less as long as he had money in his pockets. Yen did no good here and it was best that he blend in.

Overall, he had to agree with Kassim: he _hated_ the nobles. They were terrible people, worse so than the politicians of the modern era, because at least they got caught and punished. These people got away with much worse. They could whip a child or sell them into slavery and no one cared.

Or they could make girls get married at a young age, or worse, have girls be made into sexual objects. Kida didn't really know how to interact with girls, or rather, he just didn't know what to expect from them. They were always hard to understand or predict, so he just agreed to whatever they said without much protest.

That was by far the best way to get by in this world, smile, keep your mouth shut and do your job, and your head might not be off your shoulders.

He'd seen their ways of execution before and it wasn't a pretty sight.

So, keeping your head down and your mouth shut was the best way to stay alive in this world.

He thanked the heavens that he had not been born female, otherwise things way worse would have happened to him. He'd already seen the way people treated the girl, Miriam, from shooting lustful looks at her to making explicit remarks to her face.

He did pity her. He just felt that there was nothing he could do about these things.

All three of them, excluding his outrageous origins, were just three orphan kids. And this world had already shown him it didn't give a flying fuck about your feelings or your circumstances. It was capable of being equally shitty to everyone.

* * *

"Alibaba-kun, your brother is engaged to marry a Kou Princess." Sinbad reminded, looking quite annoyed at how he'd been spacing out, thinking about his past.

He stifled a yawn. "Sorry, what happened? I'm sorry, I guess I fell asleep."

Sinbad sighed in irritation. "Your brother is going to marry a Kou Princess."

Kou? What the fuck was that?

Oh, wait...princess?

Oh shit.

His mind flashed back to that rude pink-haired brat from yesterday.

"Oh, that rude bi-"

"Shouldn't use language like that, Alibaba-kun." Sinbad scolded, but his eyebrow was twitching. "Yes, her."

"Better him than me." Alibaba said dismissively.

"Look, Alibaba-kun, you must become king. Your brother is inferior."

"He's a fucking idiot."

Sinbad flinched. "Yes, he is. You will marry her in five days, you have until then to make up your mind about what you want to do for your country, or let it rot. I trust you will make the right choice."

'That manipulative asshole!' He thought under his breath.

"Alibaba!"

That voice, it belonged to...Morgiana.

She had become awfully clingy with him lately. He didn't really know how to deal with that.

* * *

Then he'd approached Kassim and things had turned nasty. Kassim punched him and declared he would start a rebellion.

Alibaba wasn't a hero. Nor was he completely against violence, within reasonable lengths.

If one or two people died, he didn't care. But if a whole bunch of people died thanks to Kassim's fuck-up, that went beyond reasonable and into flat-out stupid. These people were starving and poor, and, ignore him or not, they really didn't deserve to die.

"Don't you want the royals to die?" Kassim had asked him.

"Yeah, the ones who hurt me." He admitted. "Not all of them, though."

"Didn't we agree that all of them are filthy?"

"I think that's where you and I disagree. Look, I know things need to be changed, but maybe we can do it in a more manipulative and subtle way, you know? Like set up some sort of republic and slowly but surely send them out into exile."

"Exile, huh?" Kassim said, "I'm more interested in taking over by force. But honestly, I sure hope you're not on that king's side."

"I'm not," He said, "But I don't quite agree with the solution of a rebellion."

"So what solution do you have, then?"

He frowned, chewing his lip.

"It's not an easy solution. One of us could be king, I don't know if you could be."

His eyes flitted back to Kassim. "Do you...want to be king?"

Kassim nodded, "Yeah. I'd make things better for the people."

"Then is violence necessarily the answer, or a temporary step in a long, long process that could easily be resolved by a simple switch of power?" He asked.

Kassim looked hesitant. "Well, yeah, in order to overthrow the government and start a new one, Kida, people will die. Unless there's some new way of doing a coup d'etat without people dying, kindly enlighten me."

He shrugged. "In the world I come from, people have tried that, but usually it doesn't end well. It ends with a lot of bloodshed and killing. Do you really want that?"

"Look, Alibaba, it's going to be war and a lot of people are going to die. If I'm going to be king, then the old nobles are gonna go. It's not a choice. You're either with me or else you're with the king."

"And either way, we're fucked." Alibaba let out a loud sigh, which caused Kassim to suddenly break out of his hostile stage and laugh.

"Honestly, I'm glad you're not more naive. So you agree with me, right?"

"Well, sure, on the idea of destroying the old system. It needs to go."

Kassim looked happy.

"But, I don't think massacring a bunch of people is going to do it. I'm not sure if Sinbad will agree with the idea of someone with non-royal blood ascending the throne."

"Technically, you're not of royal blood." Kassim pointed out.

Alibaba flinched, "Yeah, that's true. Just give me some time to think it over, all right? I don't want you doing anything too reckless. But you have helped me endlessly since I entered this world, so me turning on you would be kinda dumb, you know?"

"I had nightmares about that. I had a dream where...I did some terrible things. I turned into a monster and then you had to kill me. To tell the truth, up until this morning, I was convinced that idea was the best one. But I dreamed about myself dying, I woke up and asked myself: was that what Miriam would've wanted? That's why I've come to realize that maybe...maybe I should be king, but we should figure something out."

"Just-"

"Let me think it over?" Alibaba repeated, and the two shared a laugh, hugging each other.

"So, about that Kou Princess...is she cute?" Kassim asked.

Alibaba flinched, "To be honest, she'd be more up your alley. She's uh, feisty, has a temper, hard to handle."

"Sounds like you."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Kida, I'll give you some time to think it over." Kassim said, slapping his back, "And I'm glad we had this talk. Why don't you work on training that djinn?"

Then they'd departed, on friendly terms.

'That could've gone a lot worse,' Dark muttered, 'But you do realize he's got dark energy inside him and eventually, he will die.'

"Yeah, I know. How come I'm not dying?"

"Because I'm here, stabilizing it. However, that boy is practically overflowing with darkness, and...if nothing is done about it, his greed and lust for power will overtake him."

"So you're saying he'd be a terrible king?"

'I don't know how those systems work. But it seems your influence on him is good. I could always leech off his darkness, but eventually his misdeeds are going to catch up with him.'

"Isn't it awfully cruel for people who fall to be just left to die by the entire world?" He asked.

'That's how it is. We pretty much just rely on ourselves.'

"I can change that!"

"You're not a Magi, though."

"Fuck," Was all he said, as he came back and asked Sinbad to help him train with his djinn.

"Where were you?" Sinbad asked.

"Meeting with the guy who doesn't like you."

"So, what did you two discuss?" Sinbad asked.

"We want to do something rather unconventional." Alibaba said. "We were thinking that he becomes king instead of me."

Sinbad almost choked on his wine.

"That's never been done before. People will never agree to it, especially not the Kou Empire."

"I'm not sure that they will," He said with a smirk on his face, "But we won't know until we try, right?"

"Why don't you give it a try?"

"Because...I just don't know what to do. I'm weak, pathetic, and can't do anything. Besides, Kassim is much more smart, reliable and efficient than me, and clever and stuff."

Jafar was looking like he wanted to murder Alibaba, who shuddered.

"You know...I do like the rebellious attitude you have, Alibaba-kun. I was the same way when I was your age! Actually, did you know I'm not really a royal?"

Alibaba stared at him.

"What?"

"No, no, I started out as the son of a sailor and fulfilled my dreams. Your friend can be the same."

'If he knew about that...that would make things easier...' Alibaba thought darkly.

"Now, about the princess."

"Do you think Kassim should marry her?"

"I don't know, I can't really trust them. Alibaba-kun, you're gutsier than I thought you would be, but you're still, quite honestly, very stupid."

Alibaba facepalmed.

"How about I train you with that djinn of yours?"

Alibaba paled.

Training with Amon...was quite difficult.

Very fucking difficult.

Mostly because he knew about Dark and refused to come out for a master half consumed by darkness. So this consisted of him swinging the blade around while Sinbad just stared at him, wondering what was going on.

Then finally, some flames appeared.

"You've got to let it consume your whole body."

"Is this a fetish?" He asked.

"What's a fetish?" Sinbad asked.

"Never mind. I'm gonna try, anyway." Alibaba decided.

He watched over Aladdin for a while longer before he made up his mind. It was time for him to go face his slimy lout of a brother and teach him manners.

Morgiana's eyes widened as she read the note.

"Does he always have to leave like this? I think I know where he's going."

* * *

Kougyoku swallowed hard.

Today was the day.

The day she was going to be married off, without a say as to how she felt about it.

"I wish I could marry that man with purple hair."

Never that rude blond. Never.

She hated him.

* * *

As Alibaba continued forward on his way there, he wound up having to perform some parlor tricks with his sword to get the guards to let him pass.

"Abhmad, we're gonna talk, so get your filthy ass down here."

"What'd you say?" Abhmad roared.

"I said, take your fat ass off that throne for one second and come face me."

"How dare you call me fat!" Abhmad raged. "Beasts, throw him out!"

Suddenly, a Kou beast was before him.

Then, it had slashed at his throat after a difficult battle as he lay there, bleeding out.

Then he heard Mikado's voice as he lay there.

"Masaomi...you can't die yet. Masaomi..."

'Mikado's voice...I can't die yet. No, not yet!'

Then, darkness was all around him.

* * *

The Kou Beast smirked.

The brat had been ridiculously easy to defeat.

"I am Entai, and I have defeated you."

He noticed the boy was simply just lying there.

"Get up, and get moving." He roared, "Or else I'll squash you like a bug, you spoiled prince."

He prepared to step on the boy when all of a sudden, the boy rolled over...and was...laughing. Laughing, or chuckling...in a very, very sinister way.

"Spoiled, am I? Well, well, we'll see about that. How about you give him a little taste of some darkness, Dark?"

How was he still up on his feet? That blow to his neck should have been enough!

The figure in his mind chuckled. **'That I shall.'**

All of a sudden, something dark appeared and surrounded the sword, transforming it into a giant black blade. Entai hesitated.

Those black creatures that were circling around the blade, he knew them. That was dark rukh...but that was of...

Entai just stared at him, looking at the feral grin on the young man's face, and his eyes.

His eyes were cold and dark, like those of...those of...

"You...you...you...demon!" He roared.

Abhmad looked bewildered. "Kill him already!"

"But I...!" He growled, before stepping toward the brat. "I can't believe I'm forced to fight a human with a creature like that inside him.'

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Such a cold, cool voice did not belong to that of the boy, but of the...the..demon.

Bored eyes simply surveyed him.

"You...!" He roared, "Please don't hurt me! I won't...! I had no idea you were in there!"

"I see," Dark muttered sarcastically, swinging the blade around, "However, you erred, twice. First, cowardice is a trait we dark djinns despise. Second, you slashed my vessel's neck." He said, touching the blood on his hand, "And as you know, blood does do something to us Dark Djinns. We love it, don't you know?"

He licked his lips, tasting the blood.

"What are you-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"

"Sorry isn't good enough. I was willing to spare you on the notion that you are a sentient creature and a dungeon creature-but, seeing as you intended on harming the vessel I reside in, your fate is sealed."

Then, like that, Dark aimed the blade straight into Entai's abdomen.

"Die."

With that proclamation, the beast was cut in half as blood shot everywhere, the sword transforming into its regular state, and Alibaba looking stunned and then bored as he took in the blood on the blade and on his clothing.

"You didn't have to be so theatrical, you know." He muttered.

"What in the world was that? He was a Kou Dungeon Beast, how could he beat him?" Abhmad whined.

Alibaba gritted his teeth, wiped the blood off of him and continued on, only to be blocked by a bunch of monkeys.

"You're gonna have to go through us, boy," They sneered.

Alibaba raised up his sword, but then a red blur interrupted.

It was...Morgiana.

"You didn't tell me you planned on doing this yourself. And what was with that sword? That didn't look like the typical Djinn Equip."

"And what if I said it wasn't?" He chuckled enigmatically.

"I'd say you have some explaining to do." She said icily.

"Who are you?" The monkeys cried

"A Fanalis..." One of them whispered.

Suddenly, the leader's eyes widened as he took in Alibaba. "That sword...that smell...it's the smell of...of...a d-d-demon! DEMON!" All of them shrieked.

Morgiana looked in bewilderment at Alibaba, who shrugged.

"How very rude." He said in response, "Now would you be willing to fight her?"

They all nodded, nervously.

"Or would you rather I fight you?"

They shook their heads, an immediate no.

"All right, Morgiana, take me out of here, because these guys don't like me."

"YES, TAKE HIM OUT OF HERE!" They boomed.

Morgiana blinked in bewilderment. "What is going on?"

"He has the blood of a demon!"

"Demon? What is that about? I thought you had the power of Amon..."

"I never said I came empty-handed." He said.

"Or, is there some other ability?"

"Yeah, more or less. In here." He said before pointing at his head.

She just blinked in bewilderment. "As long as you're on the good side. I don't understand it, but..."

As she tried to pick him up, there was a strange, black orb seated on Alibaba's shoulders.

"Is that it...?" She asked.

"Hey, Dark, go back in!" Alibaba ordered and like that the dark orb fizzled out, like a petulant child.

"So you're...?"

"Uh-huh."

"Like that Magi!"

"Yes, I use that black stuff." He muttered, "They're my friends, well, sort of. Some of that energy is like Aladdin's, but others are different. It's different."

"How is it that they're afraid of you?" She asked.

"Don't know. Don't quite understand it myself." He replied simply, "It was fun, though."

"But you...killed-"

"Technically speaking, he did." He said, pointing at himself. "Dark, you really shouldn't have slaughtered that, Morgiana, just lift me there."

Just like that, Morgiana picked up the mysterious boy and threw him.

* * *

"Is he a Fanalis, too?"

"No, he possesses the power of a dark demon." A monkey said.

"What is that?" Morgiana asked.

"Only one of the most powerful creatures on this earth. You'd best run away, little girl, before you get bested by us...or him."

"He'd _never l_ ay a finger on me." She said coolly.

"Ha, that's what you think, he's nothing but foul, disgusting demon-"

Morgiana kicked one in the face, "I don't know what this is all about, but Alibaba-san is my friend and I refuse to let you insult him. Brace yourselves."

Foolish girl, they thought. If only they could see the look of sadistic fury that had been on his face. That was the face of a Dark Djinn. Sadistic beings that cared only about themselves and not others.

They had no idea how the creature had come to be in a human body but it did not matter. He was away from them now.

That was all they mattered, they thought before the Fanalis girl kicked them into unconsciousness.

"I don't know what's going on in there, but do your best, Alibaba!"

Alibaba turned his head for a second like he heard someone, but he continued on going down the hallway.

Until he met his last opponent: a cheetah.


	6. Chapter 6 Marks of the past

Ugh, school has been kicking my ass, but nonetheless, here's the next chapter of this story! I _hope you all enjoy it. (I hate tumblr so much sometimes. I like that ppl are chill af here.) I think this and some others are the only magi fics I'll keep updating. Ppl don't look at crossovers much. Let's just say drama has made me 10,000 times more cautious.)_

 _Oh, also, guys, they're trying to destroy Net Neutrality again, so please go sign the petition urging the president to not get rid of Net Neutrality over at fight for the future dot com. We all know fanfiction depends on an open internet for all. I don't want to lose my freedom online._

Anyhow, will Kassim actually not fall? Will Kougyoku overcome her hate of Alibaba/Kida? Will Morgiana figure him out? Will Abhmad become less of a jerkbutt?

""It's being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one."

― George Harrison

* * *

Chapter 6 Marks of the Past (the clock is slowly ticking your life away)

 _"Hey, Kida, how much time do you have left until you drop dead?"_

 _"Yeah, Kida, just die already, no one likes you, you cry too much, you big baby!"_

 _"You shouldn't be here!"_

* * *

Alibaba glanced down at the fallen form of the cheetah he had taken on only moments prior, who was slowly dying from his wounds, a smile on his lips as he regarded his victor.

He had begged for him to reconsider, but the cheetah had insisted on such a thing, as it was "honorable."

"Please, just one thing...before you die, tell me your name. I'm...I'm..." He swallowed. The dead tell no tales after all. "I'm Kida..."

"Kida...what a fine name for a warrior like yourself. I was Engi...now I'm your fallen enemy. It was an honor dueling with you. Farewell..."

Like that, the life of Engi faded out like a candle being snuffed out.

Kida just stared at his lifeless form before he realized he had been crying.

How ironic. He'd sworn he wasn't capable of feeling remorse.

Someone like him was incapable of that...right?

Right?

He sheathed his blade as he continued walking down the hallway, lost in his memories. Could he really be a ruler here? Fuck no, he had a world to return to, a best friend to come back to, and Saki...he couldn't keep them worrying any longer. Was it wrong that he still longed for that world despite being here for so long?

He missed Internet, he missed cell phones, he missed fast food, he missed television, fuck, he even missed...he even missed Izaya-fuck no, he'd never miss him. But at least there weren't any insane monsters there or royalty. His civilization had evolved beyond that primitive way of thinking.

For a moment, a brief moment, he had taken off the mask of Alibaba the hero and become the true self he was hiding: for a few moments, he allowed himself to be Kida once more, tugging at his scarf, touching his earrings, and reaching inside his pockets and removing a single golden thread and staring at it. It was all that was left of that scarf he treasured so much.

He'd lost it, somehow.

With that scarf had been the piece of evidence tying him to that life as Kida. Without it, he was just no one. A lonely ghost, drifting in a world that doesn't want him.

"Why...why can I never forget?" He whispered, leaning against the wall.

For a brief, few, cowardly moments, he wanted to turn away and run.

But she was out there, fighting. She believed in his cowardly ass, somehow.

'Who could learn to love...a broken human like me? After all, I'm not normal...I'm...a...'

He whispered the word under his breath as he prepared to enter the throne room to face Abhmad once and for all.

"... _sociopath."_

* * *

 _"Masaomi? Aren't you sad?" Mikado asked._

 _The brunette looked up at him, smiling. "About what?"_

 _"You know, your parents died."_

 _"So?" He said stiffly, "I don't care."_

 _"Y-You should care!" He protested, "They were your parents."_

 _He sneered. "They were parents only in the loosest sense of the word. Father was never home, and drank all the time. And that witch longed for him until it killed her. And she took her frustrations out on her only son! Oh, yeah, that's right! I was the mistake, the disgusting hellspawn who shouldn't exist for being there. I took her husband away! That's what she would tell me as she hit me, day after day, and slapped me, kicked me, broke my bones, and tried to kill me twice. Yet you think I should be sad over their passing? Sorry, Mikado, but they were scum. I'm glad they're dead. They never loved me, why should I love them?"_

 _His scathing words caused Mikado to flinch. "Are you...are you...a...?"_

 _Kida looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean? Am I what...?"_

 _"Well...I don't know how to explain it..." Mikado shuffled, "You...you don't seem sad that they died. Aren't you sorry for them?"_

 _He looked at him, blankly. "People die. Why would I be when they were so cruel?" He stated flatly. "I'm not sure what you mean, Mikado. But I...I just can't do 'that.'"_

 _"That?" Mikado asked._

 _"...Feel bad, I mean, for others. It sounds funny, I know. But I'm not joking. I literally...can't feel anything like that. I've tried, over and over and over, but every time I just feel empty inside. It's like...like I'm missing a piece of me that should be there. The time that girl in our class got sick, she came back and got gifts, but I didn't get her anything because I didn't know I was supposed to, nor did I understand why I was supposed to. I mean, she got sick, sad, and she recovered. Why was I supposed to give her a gift just for being sick? No one deserves special treatment for anything. We all get sick." He muttered, kicking the dirt._

 _"Masaomi...I don't think you're a bad person. I think you just need to work on empathy...that's all. Anyone can feel for another person, just give it time." Mikado urged. "You're starting to scare me."_

 _"Oh...sorry." He muttered. "I know I'm different, Mikado, you don't need to remind me."_

 _"You okay?" Mikado said, hugging the other, who flushed._

 _"I'm fine," He said gruffly._

 _But even as a child, he already knew: from the very beginning, he was already warped inside._

 _"Masaomi-kun..." Izaya said, approaching the teen, who was watching Saki, with an impassive look on his face._

 _"When will she wake up?" He asked._

 _"It'll take her a while." He said, "Are you sad?"_

 _Kida shrugged. "I dunno. I dunno how to feel."_

 _Izaya just stared at him. "What do you mean, Masaomi?"_

 _He looked at the ground. "I mean...I feel angry that this happened to her...but I don't see how it's my fault this happened...things like this just happen to good people, right? So why should I be blaming myself when I didn't even know? Am I supposed to be sad this happened...?"_

 _He slammed his fist into the ground._

 _"Masaomi-kun, it's normal to be overwhelmed, but you're acting abnormal. Don't you feel bad for her? She's now in a hospital and can't move."_

 _He looked at her before nodding, slowly. "I..I think I do. I mean, somewhat. I don't know...I think it sucks that Saki's here like this...she shouldn't have had that happen to her...but I don't know what you mean. How do I...feel bad for someone? Like...show sympathy? How does that work? What even is that, anyway? To me, it's dumb...she already went through that...why does she need me feeling sorry for her? Won't that make it worse?" He snapped, practically screaming._

 _His eyes were burning._

 _"Calm down, Kida-kun. You're not sure what you're saying. Of course, you know what sympathy is, right?"_

 _"Feeling...bad for others' misfortunes." He said monotonously._

 _"See, you know what it is. Now, tell me a time you felt bad for someone else." Izaya said._

 _Kida blinked, and blinked again. "...Uh, I don't know what you mean. I honestly don't. Sorry..."_

 _"So I was right...you are a sociopath, Kida. Of course, knowing your circumstances, it's only understandable that this would happen."_

 _"Socio-what?" He said, staring at him._

 _"Sociopath. It's a personality disorder. Basically...sociopaths are born lacking love for others, only love for themselves. They don't understand empathy, remorse, regret or guilt. They can't feel it or begin to understand it. They're only out for themselves. They don't care if they hurt others. And they only cry out of pity for themselves. I thought you were...but I wasn't sure." He said._

 _"...I do care if I hurt people." He said, "But...if they hurt me, I don't care." He whispered._

 _"Masaomi-kun, you being a sociopath doesn't make me stop caring for you. You're still human. You didn't ask to be this way. Blame your shitty parents." He patted Masaomi's hair._

 _Masaomi started crying quietly. He never liked sobbing out loud, he preferred crying with a sort of dignity to it._

 _Izaya just watched the young boy struggle to come to terms with that. He was using the young boy for his own gain and he was tired of pretending to care about him. But honestly, this kid being a sociopath was unexpected._

 _How fun._

 _He could use him._

* * *

Yes, Alibaba was a sociopath. He was aware of this. He had been aware of this for a long time. No matter how hard he tried, empathy remained a joke, sympathy a farce, and regret a distant cousin he could never reach out to. Any time he even felt the urge of something remotely like it, it would evade his grasp and he would just feel empty again.

It was a very lonely life to lead, that was for sure, but it didn't stop Alibaba. He tried not to make trouble for others if he didn't have to, but he hated boredom, so he did steal things, lie to others, and get into fights. As long as he didn't do anything too major like kill, he was fine. He didn't believe killing wasn't necessary at times, but he just didn't see the point in doing it in a world like this one.

For one, it was dumb, two, it was an utterly dumb move that would get him exposed by Sinbad. And he didn't want that. So, all the more so to hide his sociopathy. People wouldn't, couldn't, and didn't understand that it wasn't necessarily a death sentence to be that way. They would just call him a monster, a heartless psycho, or a jerk.

Sighing, he turned away and turned to look at the people staring at him, in the court.

* * *

"Well, Abhmad, it's time to put an end to this bullshit of yours, wouldn't you say?"

"Prince Alibaba!" Balkirk cried.

"No need to call me that." He said, "It's time for you to step down from the throne. There's someone better qualified than you to take the throne."

"As if a commoner like you can rule the throne." Abhmad sneered.

"No, not me. Someone better. Someone who understands the will of the people. Someone who didn't turn his back on his people and sell them out like you did." He said, staring at the others around him. "Do you really want him ruling?"

The soldiers shook their heads nervously.

"You traitors! You have to obey my orders! Kill him!"

"We can't, he's a prince!" They protested.

"All of you will be executed for treason-"

"Stop it, Abhmad. Alibaba is right, let's listen to him. This system needs to be revised."

So he explained what he wanted to do and Abhmad was shocked into a stunned silence.

"As if I'll let my throne go to some worthless street rat!"

Alibaba punched him square in the face. "Insult Kassim again and you'll get it big time." He hissed. "Surely you recall my promise to you years ago?"

"R-Right..." He whimpered.

"Alibaba-kun, what's going on?"

It was Sinbad...he'd arrived with a bunch of people Alibaba didn't recognize.

"Is this your posse?" He joked.

"What's a posse? These are the groups of people who will help us get Abhmad off the throne and place your friend on the throne. But there's still the matter of the Kou Empire to deal with."

As if on cue, the princess from before turned up.

"What is going on here?" She yelped, "I'm here to marry the king."

"That would be me.." Abhmad said.

"Eww, no way!" Kougyoku shrieked.

"Actually, no one is the king right now." Sinbad said, "We're deciding on whether to revamp Balbadd's king lineage to make it accessible to anyone, regardless of royal blood or not."

"W-What? That's insane!" Kougyoku snapped. "You can't do that! That's going against tradition!"

"Nevertheless, it's an outdated tradition. It must go." Alibaba said, "What we really need is a person who understands Balbadd."

"Are you going to be the next king?" She said piercingly.

He eyed her. "No. Someone better is. But not quite a king."

"You're a fool." She snapped. "Countries can't survive without kings. I have to marry the king of this country-"

"There won't be a king like that. None of us are going to be king."

"Very well, there's still the matter of the bill my father wants signed."

"Ask him to undo it, as it's a piece of shit bill and unfair to other people." He said smugly. "You don't really want this, do you? You're not the kind of girl to just give up and say whatever, right?"

"Shut up, you idiot! You are the worst, most selfish person I have ever met!" She yelled, reaching for her hairpin.

"Princess, stop!" The green-haired man behind her yelled. "Think of where we are!"

"Right..." She muttered sarcastically. "So I take it no one is going to approve of this bill? But Balbadd is in control by the Kou Empire! So you can't change that."

"Actually, we're thinking of making a trade between the two countries." Sinbad said from behind them. "Alibaba-kun has a plan and I think it's a very good one, Princess."

"Y-You..." she said, flushing deeply at the sight of Sinbad. "Very well, I will pass the news over to Father that I am not doing it. But still, whoever this king of yours is, he'd better be a good one."

She stuck her tongue out at Alibaba, who grinned evilly at her.

"Princess, you're welcome to come visit my country any time." Sinbad said cheerfully.

Was Sinbad... _sparkling?_

The princess flushed.

"O-Of course!" She snapped in a high voice. "Ka Koubun, we're leaving."

* * *

As Kassim made his way through the crowds of people, he saw a red-haired girl dressed in fine clothing making her way toward a carpet of sorts.

"Is she with the Kou Empire?" He asked himself.

"Watch it." She snapped.

"You watch it, strawberry." He said, sarcastically.

"W-What did you just call me?" She yelled, pumping a fist at him.

"Strawberry. Your hair looks like a strawberry. Is that a bad thing?" He said. Man, this chick was feisty. Kinda cute, too.

Kassim hadn't had much luck with girls. Maybe this one would be his type.

"You rude little...I'm Kougyoku Ren of the Kou Empire!" She said.

"So?" Kassim said, blinking.

"W-What...?" She said, looking surprised.

"So why should I care about that? Should I be scared?"

She faltered, looking hesitant. Apparently, she'd never been brought down to a commoner's level before.

"...You know, you're right." She said. "Status doesn't mean much...I don't think so."

Kassim spat out his cigarette. "Nobles like you exist?" He said in surprise.

"Just because I'm part of nobility doesn't mean I agree with everything they do." She said.

Those words resonated with Kassim. He'd recalled Alibaba saying something like that a long time ago. Well, something similar, anyway.

"Right, well, nice meeting you, I guess." He said, turning away.

"Wait, what's your name?" She asked.

"Kassim." He said, waving his hand as he turned and walked away.

What a strange, yet curiously fascinating girl.

No way in hell would he fall for a noble girl. Especially not a girl like that.

He eyed his dark metal vessel. Should he just fall into depravity, or should he take up this king job? After all, Kida believed he could do it. Kida was on his side, after all. He hadn't said no to Kassim.

Kassim sighed, turned to Zaynab and the others, and cleared his throat.

It was time to tell them the truth about what he really wanted to do.

They deserved to know the truth. After all, he was essentially stepping into an area, a world he knew little to nothing of and it might consume him entirely.

But, as long as Kida was there, he was fine. Kida was like a light, he made him step out of the darkness.

"Everyone..." He began, "I have to say something."

"Which is...?" Zaynab said. The others paused.

"I've decided that I'm.. **.I'm going to be the King of Balbadd.** "


	7. Chapter 7 Morg confuses Kida

**A/N: Yes, the pairing is gonna be Alimor. With a Tsundere Alibaba like this and a Tsundere Morgiana...one wonders how Hakuryuu is gonna meet the gang, hm? Well, that's still gonna happen, but there might be some sort of jealous rivalry between him and Kassim.**

 **(Semi-long A/N here, sorry I rambled.)**

 **Yes, Alibaba/Kida is a sociopath, but a sociopath who has "Moral Sociopathy"-in other words, logic prevails in his decision making over emotions. This means, he still has basic emotions, such as happiness, sadness, loneliness, fear, anger, surprise, jealousy, envy, hatred, a different kind of love, etc. Sociopaths are misunderstood in our society. They're seen as monsters when they're people like you and I. The majority of sociopaths obey the law and do their own thing, living and having jobs. The real question is, what determines a sociopath from the average human being?**

 **Is it sociopathy when we hire pest control people to come and exterminate an entire group of insects, giving little heed to their lives and existences because our safety comes first? Is it sociopathy when nature has a rabbit eaten by a fox because the strong devour the weak? Is it sociopathy when we smile when we hear about some criminal being executed-because criminals aren't people, right?**

 **We keep and use guns, instruments that kill people, and yet we insist we need this as a right. Yet we do not remove dogs' fangs, or a birds' talons, even though they are weapons and could hurt someone. Humans are naturally selfish by nature, in my opinion, and it's natural to see how we could come to be that way.**

 **So, why then is it that sociopaths are always the bad guy, when it is in fact natural for humans to be selfish, when babies, babies, the pinnacle of innocence, are in fact very selfish beings who want you to give them everything, the same goes for toddlers. Are toddlers sociopaths?**

 **Could we not look at that and say that sociopaths aren't broken, their minds merely function in a different way than ours do. Our ancestors out hunting mammoths didn't give two whits about what was right and wrong, they just cared about getting food for dinner. The same way hunters care about getting a deer for dinner. We have selective compassion as a species. We keep certain animals to have as pets and then others to experiment on and torture such as rats (who are quite intelligent and make awesome pets), and mice, and even others to be raised for food, like chickens, pigs, cows, etc.**

 **People always tell you "achieve what is yours." Yet when you don't put others first all the time, you're a bad person? Is refusing to text your friend back because you're studying for a test in your class selfish? No, it's practical. There are greys to every area.**

 **Baba has emotions, he still feels. Anyhow, enough with the long-ass rant.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Kassim the New King and Morgiana's confusing behaviors puzzle our pseudo-prince

To say the initiation procedure for Kassim had been anything other than grueling would have been a big, big, long joke. But to tell the truth, he had been actually quite satisfied with the results.

The looks on all those nobles' faces when they saw the poor commoner boy they had once scorned, looked down upon, now the one to lead them-it had been a scene to die for. He was glad he had been there to witness it, for if there was one thing he loved more than anything else, it was watching the losers experience defeat and suffer humiliation. He liked seeing people realize their mistakes-even if that meant they choked on their own blood while doing so.

Kassim had introduced himself and then Alibaba himself had to step in and give a speech about Kassim-but mostly, his old buddy did most of the speaking himself. He spoke earnestly. He spoke passionately, unfiltered, but with the words of a clear leader, about the horrors he had witnessed growing up in the slums. How children had grown up without parents, how his own father had abused him, how people died from disease, and how he was tired of seeing people look so defeated.

Kassim had a way of speaking, Kida thought, that drew people to him. Were this his world, he would have made an interesting gang rival to fight. But things were different, and as much as he wished he could be Kida all the time, the answer was no. In that instant, the mask was put back on, and instead he was Alibaba, watching his friend, Kassim, give a speech.

He knew those nobles were still fuming about Sinbad, of all people, backing Kassim up, but come on. Sinbad had clout and Kassim knew it, even if he still hated the guy and preferred to ignore him when he appeared.

The prince rolled over on his bed, bored, his eyes scanning over a text he had snuck in his pack with him. He made it a priority to read as much as possible. These were intellectual texts, about philosophy. Not quite Nietzsche or Kant, perhaps, but close enough.

He took out his journal and his pen and wrote in Japanese, yet another day of his adventures to his Mikado. His and only his.

Of course, Mikado didn't know his best friend had a thing for him. How could he?

He was thousands of miles away, probably forgetting about him, while he, Kida, was pretending to be someone else...the very thought caused a whine to emit from his mouth and him to roll over, moodily staring at the ceiling, before he suddenly let out a loud hiccup and before he knew it, he was crying.

He didn't like fucking crying, it was a stupid weakness. He was a sociopath, he shouldn't be letting his guard down like this. But he just missed that Mikado wasn't there, wasn't saying his name, wasn't there in person with him. In his own way, that was love, right? Or did love have to be the cheesy, cliche, sparkly shit they showed in anime?

He put his head against his pillow, clenching his fists tightly, trying his best to muffle his crying, but apparently, someone heard, for the next thing he knew, he heard quick footsteps coming down the hallway, and then suddenly, his door was wide open.

Light poured in.

Red hair.

He knew who that was.

 _Morgiana._

She _had_ to find him in an uncompromising position.

"Alibaba-san?" She asked, quietly, "Did you have a nightmare?"

He paused. Oh shit, compose yourself. Normally, he was quite good at controlling situations...not so much at controlling people, he drew the line right there. As much as he had sway over people's actions and could influence them, he didn't like doing it. It seemed too dumb to waste time telling some fake story about himself when he could just act fake and have people believe a lie than actually get them in trouble.

If someone jumped off a bridge in support of him, he wouldn't have cared two whits. All he would care about is if that person meant anything to him. If it was someone he cared for, heck yeah, he would be lonely. He would be angry that they were gone, disappointed that they had ended their life, and even lonely because he missed their presence and the way they spoke and their essence, but he wouldn't quite call it "missing" someone, as most people-all-had the same presence to them-quite unmemorable.

Only she was pushing through the walls that held him back from regular people, and he failed to see why she would care. She'd seen him stab her master, for god's sake. Normal people didn't believe people like him were capable of anything other than being monsters.

"No. I'm completely fine, now go back to sleep." He ordered. She sure was a nosy one-poking around in his business like this. He really didn't like nosy people. But she was an exception. He really did like that strength of hers-it made her a useful ally and an interesting human to be around and explore.

By exploration, he got to know the human-what made them them, their hopes, their fears, desires, plans, dreams, who they liked, who they hated. It was fascinating to hold so much information inside of you, information about others. He'd been told so much about other people simply by acting all innocent. He may have spilled a couple secrets, yes, but he never dropped names. The people were anonymous in their secrets, and so they should be to public, and whatever secrets he did spill were harmless enough that no one was too ruffled up about it for long.

The most harmful one was the not-so-secret secret that Budel had a thing for nobles and longed to be one, which was why he was such a colossal suckup. The people of Balbadd practically ate that one up and Budel was quite puzzled upon seeing previously friendly nobles suddenly turning their backs on him and refusing to do business with him. Understandably so, as no one wants to be drooled all over.

He knew so much, and yet he still knew so little, about humans. Why they cried when they got "emotional", why they would get offended over little things, such as the weather changing when they had no control over it, or when they spilled food, even though such things happened due to gravity, why they would blame others for their own misdeeds, even why they would cry at movies. He wouldn't. He'd just sit there and look bored.

"Alibaba-san, I am going to make sure you are all right."

Then she was in the room, and suddenly throwing back his covers, in time to find him, curled up in a ball in the corner of the room, feigning sleep. "Are you asleep?"

She knocked her fist on the wall.

He twitched.

She frowned. "You can quit pretending to be asleep."

He groaned. "Morgiana, I don't need anything at the moment, now please leave me alone."

"Are you just tired? I can get you something."

No, no, goddammit, he'd already stated he was tired!

He calmed himself. It would do no good to make her angry, he reasoned, and also this girl wasn't bad. She was just concerned for him, and being concerned equaled people you don't find too often, because most people were total assholes. At least he was an honest one.

"Alibaba-san, are you all right?"

Then suddenly, she was sitting next to him, her legs touching the floor...her legs. Not bad-looking. He took a quick look before returning his gaze back to his lap.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

She was getting closer to him.

He was not sure what was happening here. For some reason, his heart was pounding faster.

He jumped back and hit his head on the wall.

"Alibaba! Are you okay?" The female screeched, rushing towards him and suddenly picking him up in her arms, almost level with her-things.

"Put me down, please." He said, in annoyance. "I can do things myself. Y-You don't have to stick your neck out for me so much."

"Stick out?" She asked. "I can't stick my neck out."

"I meant, as in support me so much it's a bit much." He said icily.

She looked at him.

"Why did you free us from slavery?"

He sighed. "Because it was the right thing to do."

She shot him a stare that read, the truth or else.

He sighed before clearing his throat. "I did so because I wanted to, it's as simple as that. I knew you, so the rest must be nice, too." He said softly. "Besides, a lot of them were kids and kids aren't slaves."

Her eyes softened. "Then let me spend the night with you."

His eyes softened. "That's great-then, move on over."

"Huh?" She was quite bewildered upon seeing him fall over into her lap and fall asleep, but it had been worth it, waking up and realizing that she, too, had fallen asleep with him like that.

He wondered if it made any change in her opinion of him.

* * *

The next day, Morgiana blushed beet red and refused to talk to him, often running off to go kick random things.

"Is she angry?" He asked Sinbad.

"That's how women are!" He chirped.

Upon suddenly being surrounded by a giant tsunami wave, Sinbad reconsidered his life decisions, and then Yamuraiha, aka Scary Woman, smiled again and put her beast away.

She was nice enough, besides the inexplicable hair color. But it was the use of water that made her wind up on the "Nope, never approaching or making an enemy of" list. That princess was probably number two or higher.

But Morgiana...he couldn't control how she acted or how he reacted, which is what made her go on the frustrating, yet strangely interesting list.

So he followed her. He followed her around, only for information gathering purposes, of course. He wouldn't follow if she was doing anything private, but would continue following behind her, interested to know more. And she knew he was there. A Fanalis could detect spies or admirers.

"Why are you following me so much, Alibaba-san? I'm not going anywhere." She said.

He flushed slightly. "I get worried."

"It's not normal to follow me everywhere. I can handle myself." She said.

"Scoring women, Alibaba?" A familiar voice said.

He turned in time to see Kassim standing there, dressed in some rather nice clothing and smoking, like usual.

"You look like you walked out of a Sears store." He snarked.

"What?" Kassim blinked, but shrugged off the reference. "That Sinbad is annoying as hell. Don't trust him, he's up to something. Keeps demanding I tell him where I got my sword's abilities."

His eyes took in Morgiana, who was staring at him warily, before she went over to Alibaba's side and then nuzzled against him.

Alibaba was puzzled by this action and moved as if to get her away from him, but she stayed there, looking up at Kassim with defiance written on her face.

"I think you've got a girlfriend, there. She's interested. Don't worry, just because he goes for both types doesn't mean he's gonna leave you."

"Goes for both types?"

"What he means, of course, is that I am attracted to...women...and to men." He said, as plainly as he could put it.

"Oh." She deflated, looking a little sad.

"But why are you clinging to me?"

She reddened her face and suddenly the ground cracked.

"I'm just asking a legitimate question, Morgiana. You're being a frustrating girl by not answering."

He was suddenly kicked in the gut by her, and she stood there, eyes wide, kicking at an imaginary opponent.

"What's going on with her?" Kassim asked, "Is she crazy?"

"Morgiana?" He asked, but her eyes were wild, filled with rage.

"Lord Jamil! I'm sorry, I messed up! I didn't mean to!" She cried, but not at him, but to the ghost of a memory. It wasn't until he got a look at her face that it registered on him that Morgiana was sick.

Probably hadn't been vaccinated since vaccines didn't exist yet. Dammit.

That meant anything-from cold to mumps, to measles to freaking flu.

"Let me feel your forehead." He said.

She backed away. He brushed his hand gently (as gentle as he could be) against her forehead. Yup, burning hot.

"You have a fever. Go lie down, Morgiana." He said stiffly.

She flushed and shook her head. "I wanna stick by you."

"Didn't you tell me these "germ" things cause people to become sick?"

"Yes, and they're spread on everything you touch." He said, sighing.

"Go take care of your girlfriend, I'll be waiting." Kassim said, walking off to smoke a cigarette, knowing better than to meddle in the affairs of Kida Masaomi, especially when it came to women. The guy attracted girls to him without even thinking. Hell, that pink-haired princess had come into contact with Kassim thanks to Kida pissing her off to begin with.

She was kinda cute, too.

At this point, Kassim suddenly coughed rather loudly and gagged.

"Maybe I should quit before this "cancer" thing steals me away." He mumbled to himself.

* * *

"Morgiana is sick." He told the scary-looking Fanalis, who blinked before nodding at him.

"You come with me, boy." He said.

"Um-"

"It is _not_ a request." He said sharply.

Alibaba came, annoyed but not fearful.

"What are you really after? Your aura is unlike any I've ever faced before. You smell different from other humans. Your aura isn't in touch with how you act at all."

He flinched. "I don't know what you mean."

"You are a clever liar, but you cannot fool the Fanalis. Tell me, what are your true desires for approaching Sinbad?"

He laughed. "To get back home."

Masrur looked confused. "You are home."

"It's the truth. He has the tools, the power and the kindness to get me what I need to have back. Peace, sanity of mind, you understand, right? Loneliness eats you up." For a few moments, he was speaking as Kida again.

"Who are you?" He asked.

Baba turned back to face him with a wistful face. "I wish I knew the answer to that question."

"Do you intend on hurting Sinbad?"

"...No." He said, "It would be dumb to screw around with a man with seven djinns who clearly is a furry with a penchant for holding great fursuit parties. No, I am not interested in hurting him, now please let me go tend to Morgiana."

"What are you? You claim to care for her, though you do not have the aura of one who can care for others the way I can. You see them as objects-"

"That's not it. Now please, just let me see her. I like her a lot and want to be sure that she's not gonna die."

His eyes flashed. "Thank you very much, sir." He had bowed briefly before leaving, noticing the other's confused face.

Morgiana was lying on a bed, with the scary water lady treating her with giant bubbles of water up in the air.

He winced slightly.

"Oh, hello Alibaba!" She said, as the evil water of doom loomed above her.

"I-I came to check in on Morgiana." He asked.

"It's a simple flu, she'll overcome it with a lot of rest." She explained simply.

Oh, well, that explained things.

He'd gotten all upset over a stupid fever.

Ha, what a stupid thing to get worried over.

It was almost like he cared about her.

But caring about another never led to good things. He knew this from experience.

Later that night, he slept.

 _Izaya was smiling as he looked down at him. "Hello, Masaomi-kun."_

 _"Please help me..." Masaomi begged, reaching his hand out to Izaya._

 _Izaya smiled at him. "Sorry, I came to watch you die. I've never cared about you. Now, please die." Then he pushed him over and into the water, laughing and waving goodbye as it happened._

 _Then blood, his leg bleeding from a cut he'd gotten from hitting the river hard._

 _"IZAYA, PLEASE, DON'T LET ME DIE! IZAYA!"_

 _He was carried by someone. Not Izaya._

 _"Goodbye, little punk." They hissed, pushing him over the side, laughing while they did so._

 _He was helplessly falling toward the water._

 _I don't want to die!_

 _I don't want to die!_

 _I don't want to die, no I don't want to die, Mikado, Saki, Izaya, someone, anyone, come save me!_

 _I DON'T WANT TO DIE!_

Then his eyes shot open and he sat up. Another dumb dream about the time he'd been betrayed by Izaya...then how he'd been pushed to his supposed death into water by some other people.

As for his screaming, well, he'd had plenty of reason to be screaming. He'd been screaming before and after the falling took place, after all.

Who else other than that man enjoyed beating the hell out of teenage boys? Especially boys who hadn't even reached the realm of teenagerdom?

 _"Izumii..._ " He growled.

It was his fault everything had wound up this way.

But this way, he'd gained power and he'd show those sorry little shits true fear.

But upon seeing Morgiana lying there sick, all his selfish thoughts suddenly disappeared.

"Goddamn human emotions." He snarled, rolling back over and going to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:With Kassim still alive, there remains a big burden here upon my shoulders, which is, do I make the pairing KassKou or still have Kougyoku chasing after Sinbad? With Hakuryuu imminent to arrive and meet Sociopath!Alibaba, we'll see how things will play out. I do hope you're enjoying the story so far.**

 **I wanted to make a story about a different sort of sociopath. Often, sociopaths and psychopaths are mixed up. Sociopaths are formed by emotional abuse and trauma, and generally speaking, it is possible for them to live normal lives and help others, if they care about them enough. It is this very flaw that Alibaba struggles with-he will not be cured of his "illness"-he is not "evil" because he is a sociopath, he will simply struggle with learning how to be kind and do things in his own, different kind of reasoning. Imo, sociopaths need to be accepted by society as a whole. Being feared/hated=you become the thing they fear most.**

 **People who lack empathy should still be treated with respect and kindness, teach them what they lack and they can live normal lives with the rest of the populace, occasionally burning things, stealing, etc, but if we continue to stigmatize people with ASPD, won't that just cement in them the belief that they must be evil for being themselves?**

 **Chapter 8 The Princess's tale and Hakuryuu Ren (More annoyances show up)**

* * *

 _Golden eyes darted from the ropes binding him to the leering faces of those above him._

 _"Stop it..." He whimpered, as the blood soaked his clothing. His leg burned with sheer pain. He refused to cry, he would not do such a shameful thing. This was all happening because he was weak._

 _When he wasn't weak anymore, he vowed, he would torture them in the exact same way._

 _"...I'll kill all of you." He hissed, blood dripping from his leg, arm. He lashed out at them like an animal, aiming with brute instinct, but missing. He was still a youth, after all._

 _Izumii slammed his fist into Kida's face._

 _"What was that you said, little shogun? Couldn't hear it. I hope you continue screaming for me."_

 _The boy spat in his face instead, which earned him another ruthless beating._

 _Water...water...it was coming to kill him. It was sweeping him away._

 _He was falling from the cliff and down to the water._

 _No way he could escape._

 _No way. No way. No way._

 _He had to survive. If for no one else, for Mikado._

 _He'd do anything for Mikado. He'd kill for Mikado._

 _'I'm gonna get my revenge!' He screamed, but no words escaped his throat._

 _He was drowning, helplessly flailing around._

 _Then the water was dunked on him._

He shot up, wide-eyed, glancing down at himself.

He was soaking wet.

It was that stupid blue-haired woman. Why the fuck did she think it was okay to splash a stranger like that? More specifically, him?

He hated water. Scratch that, he hated everything to do with it.

He glared at his soaking wet clothes and frantically shook himself off.

"Why'd you do that?" He grumbled, "I hate water."

"You what?" The blue-haired woman asked, staring at him with confused eyes. "You hate my water magic?"

"No, not your magic. I just don't like water at all." He said shortly, getting up and starting to walk away, looking for that white-haired guy who was supposed to train him when she called to him.

"Alibaba-kun, I'm sorry! I didn't know. If I had known you didn't like water, I wouldn't have done that. I just thought you might like to cool off." She said, laughing nervously.

Alibaba's gaze found itself where it shouldn't be-on her...well, he couldn't help himself. He looked back up at her face. "It's all right. I know you were worried about me, thanks." He said, completely insincerely, of course. How the hell is it okay to splash someone without their consent?

This whole world was so fucked up.

Children starved to death and nobody cared.

Politics was a joke. The people here had no basic rights, no rights to an attorney, no rights to anything, just kings who could exile you or play with your life. What a messed up world.

He was just a political prisoner here. The king was playing some game with his future and he didn't like that. The Kou Empire...well, he was sure they were all nothing but some cartoony villains from an anime.

All of it was full of nothing but intrigue. Stuff he didn't want to be mixed up in. He had his own goals and objectives, and he'd be damned if he had to bend over and play Sinbad's lapdog.

"Alibaba?" She asked.

"Nothing. How's Aladdin doing?"

She sighed. "He's doing fine with his magic, he won't stop touching my breasts, though! It's a habit I've gotta break him out of. You know, Alibaba, you...have you been staring at them this whole time?"

He blinked, before saying, "I've been looking at your face this whole time, I swear."

No being splashed with the scary blue stuff.

She looked like she didn't believe him, before suddenly his lazy sword trainer decided to show up.

Kida resisted the urge to glare and instead pouted at his master. "Sharrkan-san, where the hell were you?"

Sharrkan sighed, folding his arms back and chuckling at his rebellious pupil. "Calm down, Alibaba-kun, it's not like it's the end of the world."

Upon seeing the blond's furious look, he sighed. "Hey, did you know that the Kou Empire is paying us a visit, Alibaba-kun?"

Alibaba spat out the cherry he was eating and gasped. "What?"

"It's true,," Sharrkan continued, oblivious to the former Shogun's face turning green in disgust. "I heard they're bringing the Kou Prince with them."

'That Kou Princess was bad enough...what the fuck is the Kou Prince gonna be like?' Alibaba thought in panic.

This was even more annoying than he'd wanted.

So much for his peaceful life.

So after an exhausting amount of sword training with Sharrkan, he had to go greet the two royal brats. Not that he was eager to meet any more of them after his encounter with the pink-haired brat.

'The Kou Empire is full of darkness. Delicious.' Dark said in his head.

* * *

'Dark, keep your fetishes to yourself.' He thought darkly as they got ready to greet them as the Kou Empire unloaded its three guests. The first was the Ka Koubun dude from before, who was polite but looked like he was hiding something. The second was that princess, only there was a scary aura emanating from her and she was cackling to herself.

The third was a boy with messy dark hair and a scar covering half of his face. His eyes were bright blue.

"Mika...?" He whispered, only to stop upon seeing Morgiana's curious stare cast his way.

"Hello, Princess Kougyoku." Sinbad the charlatan began his line, but didn't get any closer to finishing when suddenly a sword was aimed his way.

Alibaba chuckled a little bit.

"You fiend! You...you committed a horrible act of treason against the Kou Empire! How could you?" She roared, in fury, her water djinn appearing behind her.

Alibaba shuddered and hid behind Morgiana, who looked questioning.

"Princess...I didn't do anything of the sort!" Sinbad cried, looking pale.

"Yes, he did! The princess was sleeping here and then Lord Sinbad abducted her! He has defiled her!" Ka Koubun was saying.

What a piece of shit. To go around making up lies like that.

Alibaba could tell a falsehood when he heard one and this one was the epitome of it. For starters, the princess didn't seem all that bright, so it was obvious the green-haired twit had whispered it in her head for some reason, probably to cause controversy. Second, Sinbad was a piece of shit, but not that kind.

Sinbad turned to his generals, but to Alibaba's amazement, none of them took his side and they were all glaring at him.

He resisted the urge to laugh even harder. The person he liked least was getting owned. Oh wait until Kassim heard this.

Hilarious. He dug around in his pockets for his old phone before remembering it didn't work here and then sighed, looking bored.

"You took my virginity! How could you!?" Kougyoku whined, falling to her knees and starting to cry rather obnoxiously.

Alibaba wished she would shut up at that second. He disliked crying in general, it was so manipulative, but compared with her spoiled attitude, and he was impressed Yamuraiha-san even took her side at all.

He was really longing for a nap now.

The melodrama went on, with Jafar spitting at Ka Koubun and then the black-haired boy stepping in and saying something. Alibaba was too struck by his eye color to really register what was going on. The scar and the clothing...but other than that, his eyes reminded him of Mikado.

He looked away, feeling absolutely no sympathy for the princess and her gullibility. Oh well, maybe someday if she showed any other emotions than being a spoiled brat, maybe he might feel bad for her. She had everything and yet she bitched about stupid stuff.

On top of that, she forgave that guy for being a creep.

Alibaba made a face at him that no one but him would get, the universal Japanese equivalent of the finger, before making an innocent face a couple seconds later.

"Many apologies, King Sinbad!" The dark-haired boy said.

"No worries."

"I'm Hakuryuu Ren, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Alibaba had wanted to go hang out and sleep, but unfortunately Aladdin had stalked him there.

"Alibaba-kun, you've been weird and secretive lately."

"Aren't I always?" He snickered.

"You haven't told me if you like that mean princess."

"Nope."

"Yay! I'm not the only one who dislikes her!" He chirped.

He shared a rare laugh with Aladdin.

Morgiana approached and wound up throwing them across the lawn.

"Um...hello."

The three of them turned in time to see the dark-haired boy and the princess behind him, glaring at them.

Aladdin's gaze turned cold and icy while Alibaba smirked at her, causing her face to flush red in anger.

"I'm Hakuryuu Ren of the Kou Empire!" He introduced.

"I'm Aladdin!" Aladdin chirped.

"I'm Morgiana." Morgiana said quietly.

The dark-haired boy looked at her and his face turned red.

Oh. no.

Hell no.

No way in hell was Kida going to allow this scrawny shrimp to steal his girl.

"I'm Alibaba Saluja!"

"I've heard of you. You put in a commoner on the throne! He's a good ruler from what I've heard." Hakuryuu said, staring at him in wonder. "Still, you seem very unimpressive, kinda stupid."

Alibaba mock fell to the ground.

"He's a rude jerk!" Kougyoku screeched.

"You're an ugly lady!" Aladdin cried, grabbing at her pigtail.

"You little brat!" Kougyoku cried, as the two started fighting with each other.

Hakuryuu shook hands with them and then Kougyoku shook hands, reluctantly with Alibaba, looking disgusted before turning away and then crushing Aladdin's hand.

"Chill, he's just a child." Alibaba snarked.

"Quiet, you!" She bristled.

"Careful with that temper." He said.

She flushed scarlet before turning away and huffing.

"I think you like him." Hakuryuu pointed out.

"I DO NOT! I CAME HERE TO SEE SINBAD ONLY!" She screeched.

"I heard you talking about that dark-haired man you met."

Her face flushed. "I don't know what you mean!?"

Alibaba tuned out, but he started paying attention when Sinbad told him he was going to the dungeon of Zagan...on a boat.

"Can I stay here?" He said cheerfully.

"Of course not, Alibaba-kun, get in the boats."

"I hate water, so the answer is no." He chirped.

Morgiana suddenly glared and he froze.

"Ahahaha, yes, we can go on the boat, sure!" He chirped.

"Idiot." Kougyoku said.

" _Bitch."_ He said, grinning widely.

"What did you-" She snarled.

"Alibaba-kun, don't call a lady such vulgar terms-" Sinbad said.

"What lady? All I see is an old woman." Aladdin pointed out.

Kougyoku glared. "You little-"

"Have fun!" Sinbad chirped.

"Can I join you guys?" Hakuryuu chirped.

"As long as she doesn't come along!" Aladdin yelped.

"She's not that bad." Hakuryuu muttered. "She's just emotional right now. You know how women are."

"Women..." Alibaba muttered.

"Anyhow, Lord Alibaba, how come you're looking seasick?"

"Because...water is disgusting." He said, clinging onto Morgiana for dear life.

Why did they have to take boats to an island?

Why.

Why boats?

Oh, but it got better.

His estranged bros were here!

Oh yay, forced sibling time.

"Hi, asshole, how are you?" He chirped.

* * *

Abhmad stared at him before walking past him.

"Bye!" He chirped, ignoring Hakuryuu's gaping mouth.

"Isn't he your brother?" Hakuryuu stammered.

"He's also a jerk." He said.

"Oh." Hakuryuu said, looking quite confused at the blond's sudden personality switch. Something wasn't right about him.

He didn't know if the other two noticed it, but the blond was hiding things. He was smarter than he appeared and seemed paranoid of anything and everything. Even when he interacted with people, his golden eyes showed nothing but constant vigilance.

What was he looking for?

"Al-Thamen might be on this journey." Hakuryuu said.

"What exactly are they?" Alibaba piped up.

"They're a group of people that want to reverse fate. They're pretty bad." Hakuryuu explained.

"Reverse fate?" Aladdin chirped. "That's awful."

The little girl from the island spent time telling them about her parents and that they were being held inside the dungeon by Zagan.

When they got to the island, there were three weird people in outfits claiming to be travelers.

Kida narrowed his eyes at them, but smiled and flirted with the greenette, getting a vicious stare from the dark-haired man as he led away the blushing girl.

"Those people are strange." Hakuryuu muttered.

"Yeah." He said, before shrugging, "Huh, what'd you say?"

"You can drop that acting." Hakuryuu said sharply, "You're not actually stupid."

'Alibaba-kun's really stupid!" Aladdin cried.

"Alibaba, are you all right?" Morgiana asked.

The blond had frozen in place and was staring after the three retreating figures of the merchants with a strange look on his face before he snapped back to reality and smiled widely. "Nothing! Let's go explore Zagan!"

With their little guide, they proceeded toward Zagan.

* * *

"That boy was cute." Dunya purred.

"Princess, do not engage with the enemy." Isaac warned.

"Relax, Isaac, I am aware I will have to kill them. They are a threat to Al-Thamen for neutralizing one of our targets. That boy who is the king of Balbadd has begun losing his dark rukh, correct, Ithnan-sama?"

The greenette was lost in his thoughts, wondering about that curious feeling of nostalgia he'd gotten upon staring at the blond kid. Something was familiar about him. No, it was...it was...he smiled and started laughing.

"I think we have ourselves a prize." He said.

"What is it?" Dunya asked.

"That one boy is valuable to the king of Balbadd. If we capture him, we can lure him out of hiding and I'll have my dark metal vessel at long last." Ithnan chirped.

* * *

"Dark, what's wrong?" Alibaba whispered in his head.

'Master...' He whispered, 'Other...dark rukh nearby. Careful, Alibaba.'

Suddenly, he was with Amon again.

"Alibaba, I can't get along with this stupid demon!" Amon whined.

"I can't get along with this dumbass old man." Dark snarled.

Both of them sat away from each other.

"You guys, we're all in this together, fucking chill and work together!" Kida demanded.

"You're such an insufferable brat. And on the inside, it's whine this, whine that!" Amon moaned.

"All you do is moan!" Dark snapped.

Suddenly, they fell away from him as he woke to the sight of Morgiana carrying him, Hakuryuu, and Aladdin.

"Breasts." He whispered.

Morgiana kicked him into the wall.

"Pervert." Hakuryuu muttered.

"I was kidding." Alibaba said, "I think Morgiana looks cute holding all of us like that."

Morgiana's face darkened and she skulked ahead of them, not saying a word.

"What is your relationship with her?" Hakuryuu asked.

Alibaba shrugged. "She's my friend, why?"

The boy shook his head. "No, it's nothing. Do you think we're being followed?"

"Yeah. I felt it earlier."

"You're a very sharp person, Lord Alibaba. Why do you hide?" Hakuryuu asked pointedly.

"Eh?" He asked.

"Why pretend to be dumb?" Hakuryuu asked.

Suddenly, a dungeon monster interrupted them.

He charged at the monster and was about to punch it when Aladdin stopped him.

"Alibaba, be nice to the dungeon monsters!"

"They are our enemies. Alibaba is thinking logically here, Aladdin-dono." Hakuryuu said, aiming his spear at another monster.


	9. Chapter 9 Coming In The Air Tonight

A/N: Now it's time to work on the next part of this chapter. Dude, I'm confused as to how to proceed. Should I include Hakumor scenes or should I split them up in a different way? Let's see how Alibaba deals with the dungeon and Zagan's thoughts on him. This chapter will conclude with Al-Thamen meeting our heroes.

""Some people think the devil is one being. I think the devil is when many beings come together to do terrible things. You are looking at the Terrible."

― Ellie Elisabeth, Farewell, From the Garrison

""If you ask me, psychopaths are more talented than the rest of us... but they're still fucking psychopaths."

― Jonathan Kellerman, Self-Defense

* * *

Chapter 9 Al-Thamen appears and the Dark Prince shows his true colors

Hakuryuu Ren was a Kou Prince. From the beginning of his life, he'd perceived everyone and everything around him as an enemy, ever since the day his mother heartlessly murdered his father and his two brothers and left him with both physical and emotional scars that would never heal.

Oh that, he hadn't really believed that until they'd told that. It was hard to be the same after those events had shaken him up and made him unable to believe in others emotionally.

He stared at the ground, then his eyes trailed to every member of his new team he was with in the dungeon. The team who called themselves "Zagan", apparently, had ventured in here to help free a village and a girl's parents from the djinn who had taken them hostage, apparently. Hakuryuu more than anything didn't like seeing kids have their parents taken from them, so out of the goodness of his heart he'd taken this plan up.

First his gaze drifted to the Fanalis, Morgiana. He'd never really met a Fanalis before, and she was extraordinarily beautiful. Her long red hair fell in waves on her face, framing her gentle face ever so slightly, her eyes burned like embers in a fire and her smile made his heart pound very fast. Her body was lithe and agile.

How a woman so beautiful could exist on this Earth, he had no idea. All he knew was that she was amazing. There was something about her that he admired. Her attitude reminded him of his cousin. His thoughts drifted back to her and he wondered if she was doing all right by herself, as he knew of her affection for Sinbad.

He looked over at Aladdin and Alibaba and sighed. He wished both of them would've gotten along with his cousin, but they didn't seem to really care for her. Though she came off as a bit catty at first, she was actually a very lonely person. She could use real, true friends.

He worried about her being alone with Sinbad. He was still an older adult, after all. He had no idea about what he could be doing to her. King Sinbad was polite and all, but he couldn't help but get a suspicious feeling about the man. Although he'd agreed to help the prince with his plans, he couldn't help but feel like Sinbad was using them-all of them-for something. What that something was, he couldn't even guess.

But Hakuryuu was good at spying fake people and Sinbad was one of those people. He acted the hero, sure. But he was no saint. He had to have done some dirty things before to achieve that crown, after all. Call him crazy, he just thought he was more cunning than he appeared.

His gaze went over to Aladdin, one of the more curious members of the group. He'd never met a nice Magi before this, Judar was weird towards him but a total jerk, so he'd never really bonded with him. He was traveling with him and yet he acted like a normal kid, aside from remarking about women's breasts every now and again.

He wondered how the kid could be so normal.

The boy was so odd-where were his parents? Hakuryuu didn't know and he didn't ask.

Those things weren't his business.

The world they were in sort of sucked.

It was just the blue hair that attracted him. Looking at his blue eyes, however, it was like looking into a mirror, he had to admit, and shuddered slightly, watching the Magi as he was talking to the dungeon monsters.

On the other hand...his eyes traveled to the third member of the group, the one who was complaining loudly about how hungry he was and tired, and tripping over monsters. The stupidest member of the group, he thought, was Alibaba. Honestly, he'd been expecting a lot more out of him as a prince. Someone smart, intelligent, domineering. Someone like his brother, but instead he just got a kind-hearted, gentle, kind of weak and wimpy (and whiny) prince.

Hardly a moment passed by where he wasn't complaining about something. His eyes swept over the other's figure. His blond hair was an unusual sight, it apparently showed how pure he was, he thought, rolling his eyes. Still, his complexion was rather unusual. He was awfully tan.

The other was really good with swords and had a djinn that he had shown him through their fights here. Apparently, he'd also elected a commoner to succeed the throne in Balbadd, although he didn't quite know the man's name nor had he met the guy yet.

Hakuryuu thought he was insane for installing a commoner on the throne, but his behavior in this dungeon just confirmed his suspicions, he was...crazy. Not just crazy, but stupid. What kind of idiot puts their hand on a dungeon monster and nearly gets his hand ripped off? Alibaba, apparently.

Morgiana-dono had saved him and he'd been spouting excessive thank yous her way. What a loser.

"Ow, ow, ow! Thank you, you saved my life!"

"Alibaba-kun, you should look out for yourself." Aladdin said, "Sometimes, Hakuryuu, Alibaba-kun is really cool."

"Is he now?" Hakuryuu said skeptically.

"Most of the time, he's an utter idiot."

Come to think of it, Aladdin was leading them, he was right behind him, Morgiana had tagged behind them. Although, he was a little puzzled by the way in which the blond trailed behind them, being slow and looking around at everything.

Although he seemed to come off as stupid, he wasn't sure whether the boy was genuinely clumsy, but he was...coming across in a different way here. Perhaps he wasn't stupid, just clumsy. The way in which he walked behind them indicated that he was playing the guard. He wasn't sure what the prince was playing at, but in some ways, he was definitely more intelligent than he let on.

Perhaps it was those eyes of his. Golden eyes...he didn't run into those very often. They looked like they could see through everything...but most of the time, his eyes just looked dull and dim. Right now, however...when he glanced over his shoulder, he could see the blond teen lurking behind them, glancing about warily, his head turning at every sound, his eyes focusing on everything else, glancing at the ground, glancing behind himself.

He was surprised when they'd found the village girl, lost inside and fighting off the plants.

To his surprise, Alibaba didn't really have much of a reaction to her crying. He simply whispered some consoling words to her, but his eyes didn't really show any concern. It was as if he knew she could handle herself.

Alibaba had gotten back to his feet and was glancing about, his eyes narrowed into slits. Now his golden irises were burning with a strange emotion he'd never seen them possess before. "Someone's here."

"Who's here?" Hakuryuu said.

"Come on out. I know you're there." He said sharply.

Suddenly, a tall figure appeared. It was the djinn.

"Welcome to my dungeon! My name is Zagan, and I am the 61st Djinn. How did you know I was here, boy?" He said, glancing at the blond with an interested look on his face.

"I could tell there was something off here." He said.

Suddenly, the girl was snatched up by him as he studied her. "It seems I missed her earlier. Thank you for bringing her to me."

"Let the girl go!" Hakuryuu cried, only to be tossed aside like he was nothing more than a rag doll.

"Don't want to." Zagan whined. "I think I'll eat her."

"Disgusting." Was all Alibaba said, staring at him with complete and utter contempt. It was a look he'd never seen the prince wear before, and it unnerved him.

"Aren't you a vulgar human? I don't much care for humans."

Suddenly, Alibaba's djinn appeared.

"Amon?" He asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to ask him a few questions." The old man said.

So this was Alibaba's djinn, he thought, studying him.

"Aren't you going to select a king?" He asked.

"That's boring. I think I'm going to stick to torturing some humans."

Then, Zagan disappeared, daring them to find the girl if they wished to conquer the dungeon and they were off.

They went through some monsters, fought off some traps. Nothing much happened of great importance. He'd been through some fights before, and he wound up being separated from the others, paired with Morgiana while Alibaba and Aladdin fought together and eventually reunited.

(A/N: Sorry, but I'm skipping these scenes as I don't want to plagiarize completely and also I'm terrible at writing fight scenes, so this chapter probably feels skimpy compared to others. But you all know what happens, so rehashing that feels pointless.)

When they arrived at a midway point, Hakuryuu stopped.

A's POV

* * *

Then Zagan appeared, taunting them about some bullshit.

Alibaba wanted to punch his stupid fucking face in at this point. What an arrogant and shitty djinn. He'd thought Amon was bad enough, but did this guy have to make him fight and be exhausted? Shithead.

' **I really, really want to fight him.'** Dark muttered, looking pissed off himself.

"One of you is holding everyone back. It's you, the kid with the scar on his face. You're a weak good-for-nothing."

Alibaba couldn't help but agree on this note.

"You're right, I am weak!" Then Hakuryuu started bawling.

Seriously?

Well, all his self-respect for the boy vanished immediately.

' **What an idiot. He let a djinn's insults get to him?** ' Dark scoffed. **'I thought the Kou Empire was supposed to be composed of fierce warriors, but so far I've been disappointed. That girl started out cold, but now is just swooning for Sinbad, and now this kid is just a crybaby.'**

"You're not actually crying, are you?" Zagan said.

"Shut up, you freak! Stupid mask guy!" He cried.

Wow, that was also the lamest insult ever.

Could this day just be over already?

"Calm down." He said.

"Shut up, how are you so strong when you're so stupid? Why are you so clumsy?"

"...What?" Was all he said. This kid wasn't worth getting upset over. Still, he managed a feigned kicked puppy look.

"Looks like you're just as weak as he is." Zagan said.

Alibaba let the kid yell at everyone else before turning to where Zagan was, and then smiling widely, cracking his fists in a menacing gesture, his smile widening ever so slightly to show his teeth.

"What are you doing?" Zagan asked.

He cracked his fists even louder, smiling even more, in a sinister way, as a dark aura brewed behind him, which the djinn clearly noticed, but was only slightly perturbed by. Instead, he started laughing.

"Aren't you interesting? You're just a human. Aren't you afraid?"

" _You're_ the one who should be afraid, Zagan." He whispered, so that only the djinn could hear, as he shot him the most bloodthirsty look he could manage, narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, grinning sadistically-before it warped back into that usual smile of his.

The djinn flinched, absolutely startled by the boy's change in demeanor. What the fuck was with this human? He'd thought he was as dumb as the others, but here he was showing zero fear towards him and acting rather odd. Threatening him? Either he was really full of himself or else he was...insane. Yep, definitely insane.

Oh great, he had an insane kid on his hands. That smile of his had actually promised pain.

"Don't tell me you're one of those types." Zagan muttered.

"What if I am?" He said softly.

It was then that Zagan noted the dark things flitting about the boy and his eyes widened. He had thought the boy stunk, but to think he'd let a fallen one into his dungeon...no wonder he seemed so messed up.

Oh well, he'd let it go for now.

Although, he wasn't the real Zagan, just a fake but even so, he wondered if the boy could tell.

"Hakuryuu, we should get going." Alibaba said.

"Shut up! This is something I'll do alone!" Hakuryuu said.

Alibaba rolled his eyes mentally, but somehow gave a fake heroic speech about believing in yourself and the kid swallowed it up.

Then the blue-faced dick appeared again and showed them a truly terrifying scene: there were people attached to trees.

"You stole this from some horror movie, didn't you?" He muttered under his breath in Japanese. He knew the djinn wouldn't know that language. Even so, he showed nothing on his face. He didn't like showing any reactions, especially over something this mundane.

People died. Call him cold-hearted, but he didn't care. It did bother him if they were children, just a little bit.

Would it bother him if they weren't total strangers? Of course it would.

Cruel things happened all the time and besides, some people happened to die. Why should he cry over these people? Sure, they were innocent and all, but he was certain this was like his environment back home, where lions ate gazelle. Boo-hoo, crying over these people won't make things better.

"Are those _people_?" Aladdin cried in horror.

Alibaba resisted the urge to say, 'Soylent is people!' here.

"That girl's parents must be here!" Morgiana exclaimed.

* * *

 **H's POV**

"Awful." Hakuryuu said, glancing over at Alibaba for his reaction. To his surprise, he saw the blond was showing no reaction at all to the horrible things before him.

Instead, he just looked bored. How could he look bored when such a scene was before them?

"This happens." He muttered, "It's cruel, but we might just need to stab these trees, maybe free these people that way." He talked in such a dead monotone that it almost made Hakuryuu rethink his opinion of the boy.

The boy drew his sword and stepped closer, aiming his blade at them.

"It's better than suffering for a long time like this. At least with a quick blow, they'd be free of suffering, you know." He said, "Either they suffer forever like this or else we do it the quick, painless way."

The way in which he was talking sent chills down his spine.

What's with the scary look on his face?

"No, Alibaba-kun, you can't do that! They're people." Aladdin protested.

"Not anymore, they're not." He replied back, his steely gaze on Hakuryuu, as if he dared him to protest.

Hakuryuu did not. He could see that the prince was right.

These people probably weren't going to make it.

He was coldly efficient but that was true.

"My, my, how cold-hearted!"

Then Zagan was there.

The boy narrowed his eyes, but he did not react.

Good reflexes, Hakuryuu thought.

The question came to him, as he stood near him. Why was he pretending to be dumb? He clearly was of very sound mind, although his apathy bothered him. How come no one else noticed?

* * *

Hakuryuu was used to wearing a mask, and for some reason, Lord Alibaba had one as well. He probably had his own reasons for doing so, so he wouldn't pry-for now.

Maybe he was just afraid of nobles learning he was intelligent. That was possible.

"Bold, aren't we, blondie?" Zagan said, "But my dungeon creatures _need_ to eat, you know."

"He has a point." Alibaba admitted.

"But they're _people!_ " Aladdin protested.

"That's the way of nature. Haven't you ever seen the way wild animals hunt down their prey?"

"Not bad, blondie."

Then they started fighting him, and Lady Morgiana was close to death after using her magoi powers to help them escape.

A's POV

Alibaba stared, wide-eyed, at Morgiana's fallen body. No, this couldn't be happening.

He couldn't lose the tool...er, the _person_ who was making him feel more human again.

"I thought I would finally be able to help you..." She whispered, holding his arm.

As he cradled her in his arms, he suddenly recalled...

 _Saki. Saki. Saki. Saki._

Her lifeless body in the hospital, her pathetic smiles, her screams as she'd had her limbs broken.

Yet again, it had happened. A girl he cared for was now injured because of him. Yet he felt nothing. Nothing but a strange, burning rage in him.

How dare he. _ **How** dare he._

"...I'm gonna end you," He snarled, storming over to Zagan, who suddenly transformed into a little creature, but still he didn't stop, grabbing the creature and holding him, murder evident in his eyes. "What the fuck _is_ wrong with you, you sick son of a motherfucking bitch?"

"Lemme go!" He cried, squirming free, backing away from him, fear evident in his eyes. "What's wrong with you, human?"

"What's wrong with you? _You_ imprisoned these people, feast off of them and nearly kill my companion and you're asking what's wrong with me? Disgusting." He snarled.

Fortunately, Aladdin took his anger for righteous fury and nodded. "Alibaba-kun, you can't hurt him. He's a dungeon creature. I know you're upset about these people."

Uh... _no._

No, he was upset about _Morgiana._

No one but him could hurt her. No one but him could treat her in that way. Of course, he would never _physically_ hurt her. But she was emotionally hurt, and that should only be done by him.

No one else should have the nerve to touch what or who belonged to him.

He'd already made it clear in his mind that she was a person he yearned to have, although he knew it was not a pure love, more like desire he felt for her. Even if his love for her was different and entirely selfish, he still wished to be with her.

Their bond is what made him believe she "belonged" to all of them, in a sense. So, naturally, he figured, family or friends should be the only ones to hurt each other.

"I'll tell him you're on your way." He said, shaking still.

"I'm sorry." He said, not feeling it but still feeling like he needed to apologize. He understood the feeling of wanting to protect what belonged to you and clearly this creature wanted to protect his master as his sense of devotion and belonging to him could be understood by him.

He had to admire that dedication.

Did he feel bad about nearly hurting the creature? Of course not. He had _no_ empathy. But did he know it was wrong? Of course. But anger often paralyzes those emotions.

Suddenly, the djinn was stabbed and disappeared.

He simply stared. "Who did that?" He asked.

"It's Al-Thamen!" Aladdin cried in alarm.

"Al-Thamen?" Alibaba muttered.

' _Perhaps they could tell us more about you, Dark._ ' He whispered in his head.

 **'I don't trust them...but their dark rukh is overpowering.'** Dark whispered back.

* * *

"So we finally meet at last...Magi. And...you." He said, glancing at Alibaba with a strange look in his eyes.

"You guys are the merchants, I take it?" He said softly.

Ithnan chuckled. "Indeed, we are."

The black-haired dude reached for his sword for some reason, only to be stopped by the greenette.

"Isaac, I didn't give any orders."

"Your Highness, he called you a merchant."

"I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." She said, her eyes glinting as she took him in. "You're very interesting, you know. We're here to get Zagan, if you don't mind."

"Of course we mind." Aladdin cried, "You guys are evil!"

"Oh, but I'm afraid you, magi, have been deceived," Ithnan chuckled. "For there is one among you who understands what we mean, right...Alibaba?"

He blinked. "So you noticed. This is about him, isn't it? Kassim."

"Yes. We were meant to unleash something great in him, but thanks to your meddling, our plans have been ruined." He looked sad for a second.

"You mean, you wanted to use him? What would you have done?" He cried, getting angrier by the second.

"Oh, nothing much, just unleash a Dark Djinn."

His eyes widened. Hadn't Dark told him if a human underwent a full transformation that they would die?

 **'Yes, that's correct. A mere human, even you, cannot hope to completely contain or control my powers without losing yourself or going power-drunk. You've shown on more than one occasion that even being with my djinn equip makes you a bit unstable.'**

' _Hey! I try!'_ He hissed.

"What's a Dark Djinn?" Morgiana asked.

"A being made of only darkness. The opposite of a regular djinn." Ithnan said softly. "Creatures who will help turn back the clock and remove fate from this world."

"Hakuryuu, take Mor-san and the girl to safety! We'll deal with them!" Aladdin cried.

"Okay!" Hakuryuu said, taking her away.

Alibaba turned back to them, noticing the swordsman blocking his path.

"Hello, prince of Balbadd. I'm Dunya Mustasim, of the country Mustasim." Dunya said, curtsying.

Figuring he might as well be polite, he bowed in response. "My pleasure. And what's that country?" He asked, with genuine confusion.

The princess frowned. "I would think you would know of it?"

"I remember something about it being another kingdom like mine, right?" He muttered. He hadn't paid much attention during those lessons. He'd tried to escape many, many times, to be quite honest.

"Yes, it's a beautiful place."

"Wait, wasn't it destroyed?" He muttered.

"It was, yes." She admitted. "But I'll take Zagan and bring it back."

"Why are you telling Alibaba-kun all of this?" Aladdin demanded. "He has nothing to do with you guys!"

"On the contrary, Magi, he does. I can't believe you didn't notice already, but your friend is already on the path of falling into the darkness, like us. Didn't you see his dark rukh?" Ithnan chuckled.

Aladdin turned to look at Alibaba, who just blinked.

Indeed, now that he looked at him, he could see a lot of dark rukh fluttering about him, lifeless but chirping with some kind of unspeakable energy. They clung to Alibaba-kun and clustered about his shoulders and head, almost protectively.

How come he hadn't noticed this before? Why hadn't Alibaba-kun told him?

"You _lied_ to me?" He said, feeling his heart break.

The blond looked at him sadly. "I guess that cat's out of the bag. But yes, I might be halfway there. But I don't intend on allying with you guys. My alliance belongs only to my-my friends." He said, covering his tracks. Still, he noticed how Aladdin was eying him.

For a second, he felt hurt by that disappointment.

Was he supposed to feel hurt?

He didn't feel bad, yet for a second, his heart hurt. What a weird feeling.

It was probably because of his eyes-he looked like Mikado. That was the reason. Yup, must be.

"Look, I had to lie. You don't exactly view darkness very well, so..." He said brusquely. "Anyhow, let's fight."

"Right, we'll discuss it later." Aladdin said.

"What amusing children," Dunya said with a laugh, "But the fact that you are like us must mean that surely you have suffered something before in the past, like me."

Aladdin looked in curiosity at Alibaba, who just shrugged.

"Haven't we all?" He said.

"No, for a person like you to be that way, you must've undergone something truly tragic and painful. Something so bad it drove you to despair."

"Nothing except the death of my father and the ruination of my country." He said half-heartedly.

"Hm, is that so?" She said, "If that's what you want to say."

"Alibaba-kun, are you hiding something from me?" Aladdin asked.

"Let's talk about that later. But yes. It's complicated and you can't hope to understand, so let's just fight and get this over with. _Please._ " His eyes shone with something akin to despair.

For a second, Aladdin got that lonely feeling emanating from him again.

Why did Alibaba-kun again give him that feeling of total and utter hopelessness?

Was Alibaba-kun hurting somewhere?

Aladdin wanted to help right that wrong and make him feel better.

He wasn't stupid. He'd noticed Alibaba-kun hurting, but he hadn't helped.

Was it Kassim? Was he worried about his friend?

That must be it.

* * *

Oh, Dunya _knew._

She knew the second she laid eyes on this boy that he had been through something extraordinary. For a person like him to undergo the fall, he must've been through something truly tragic and painful. It was a pity she couldn't look through his memories to see it.

Whatever it was, it was probably something like...something like...if she had to put her finger on it, probably a betrayal of some sort...some near-death experience. Something that shattered his trust in others, much like had happened to her.

For those reasons, she found herself hesitant to fight him. He could be a valuable ally. But for some reason, though he seemed sympathetic to their cause, he would not back down.

"Princess. Shall I fight him?" Isaac said.

"Yes, you may, Isaac. Do not kill him."

Isaac hesitated. "Why?"

"Yes, do not kill him. I wish to learn more about you, Alibaba." Ithnan said, "And you as well, Magi."

Ithnan wondered why the young man had such a huge amount of dark rukh around him. It was something he'd never felt before, but it was delicious. This boy could be their ultimate ally.

Even so, there was a sense of familiarity to this rukh that hit him. He wasn't sure why.

 _'Alibaba._..' Dark whispered to him. **'I know that man.'**

 _'How could you possibly know him_?' Alibaba said in his head while he prepared to fight.

 **'I've been around for a long time. Centuries. But back then, I was just a piece of inanimate rukh. I've been part of others who fell and moved to others. I can't remember very well, but I know him. I just don't remember. It was too long ago.'**

Alibaba frowned, shaking his head.

"Come at me." He said, brandishing his sword.

"If you so choose." Isaac, apparently, said, moving forward.

Mikado sat up, his eyes wide. He'd had a dream about something terrible happening to Masaomi.

"Masaomi...if you are out there, please take care." He whispered.

 **I'm pretty sure Ithnan and Dunya can sense the dark rukh even if Alibaba has managed to conceal it from Aladdin. Dark users can probably sense that shit a mile away. Although they're not quite aware of Dark yet, they might be, although Ali probably won't use his powers here as Dark powers against Dark really won't do anything.**

 **He needs to use a Bug, Fighting, or Fairy Type! Haha, I had to make that joke. And yes, Dark has a role in the plot. If any of you can guess how he knows Ithnan, please comment. Also, I don't want him to be a Gary Stu. Alibaba, that is. He doesn't know much about this world, hence why he's clueless about Mustasim kingdom. And Dark is legitimately very, very old, as his dark rukh _is_ centuries old, meaning he emigrated from the same place Ithnan was in a long time ago. But he was inanimate at the time, meaning his memories aren't exactly clear, but he recognizes him. **

**This knowledge doesn't change the fact that Dark doesn't know everything about people like Al-Thamen or Arba. I will show next chapter how they met, exactly and where Dark was, but he wasn't exactly in the human world, always.**

 **Sorry for the author's notes.**


	10. Chapter 10 Fight

A/N: Hello everyone, it is with sad news that I bring you the info that my pet has died. I am very upset still and it has been a week since he died. He was a sweet little rat to the very end, rip little buddy. Anyhow, there's gonna be a lot of shit going down in this chapter.

Some flashbacks of Kida's, some of Dunya's, and some battle scenes! Also, a brief scene to Mikado and how he's becoming more integrated with Kida's senses. Wink, wink, nudge nudge. Alibaba is here, infatuated with Mikado and deeply in love with him, but he is starting to develop feelings for Morg. So pairings are Alimor/Alikado and Kasskou, lol.

Maybe Aladdin and Dunya will be a thing~.

AND KASSKOU, FINALLY! THE TWO MEET, FACE TO FACE! SO IT IS HERE THAT THE TWO SHALL MEET.

"I love you. I hate you. I like you. I hate you. I love you. I think you're stupid. I think you're a loser. I think you're wonderful. I want to be with you. I don't want to be with you. I would never date you. I hate you. I love you…..I think the madness started the moment we met and you shook my hand. Did you have a disease or something?"

* * *

― Shannon L. Alder

Chapter 10 The king and the Princess, Alibaba vs Isaac and back home

* * *

She couldn't believe she was here. After all that time spent arguing and fighting with that rude boy, now she was here, seated in front of the new king of Balbadd, a man who by all means shouldn't even be on the throne, surrounded by commoners. It was a novel sight to all-the idea of a common man becoming the king was so outrageous that many nations had condemned Balbadd's naivete, while others, like the Kou Empire, were strangely interested.

Her father had laughed when he read the news and thought that the whole thing was a "foolish idea," nonetheless he had sent her back to Sindria to also make nice with the king, who, it seemed, happened to have ventured to Sindria as well, to establish ties with King Sinbad, the kind man who knew no other.

She found herself going over him in her mind as he walked into the room. He gave off an air of ordinariness, yet there was a strange otherworldiness attached to him that she noticed. His eyes were yellow like that boy's, but feral, like those of a jaguar-this cat could bite if provoked. His hair was messy and dark brown, untamed and not held down by anything. He had strong, broad shoulders and wore the clothes typical of a king, although his mannerisms were anything but, all casual.

Her father would be shaking his head at his madness.

He must be mad. That was the explanation. All of them were mad.

The traditions her father had woven into her mind were now falling apart. She sipped her glass of wine, feeling more irritated. Why wasn't she allowed to go into the dungeon with Hakuryuu? She was a dungeon conquerer, after all, and that stupid blond kid had been able to go, so why not her?

Irritated, a little drunken hiccup escaped her lips. The boy glanced over in her direction before he smirked, in that same irritating way that blond boy did. She wondered briefly if they were related.

"Seems like the princess is enjoying herself, King Sinbad." He said lightly, drinking some alcohol himself.

"She's a bit young to drink, but she's still angry about being left behind out of the Zagan quest."

"Ah, that dungeon? Alibaba told me he was going to go there. He truly is a capable leader when he puts his mind to it." He muttered, laughing slightly at nothing. It was obvious to her that not only was he drunk, she was drunk also, for now her vision was seeing double.

She rubbed her eyes and let out a loud yawn before falling back in her chair, her eyes closing.

"Princess!" Sinbad's voice.

She awoke, staring up at him, her face flushing madly.

"Y-Yes, Lord Sinbad?" She cried.

"Meet King Kassim. But you may-" Sinbad said, only to be interrupted by the irritated looking Kassim.

"Kassim. Just call me Kassim here." He said, grimacing at the sight of being stuck with Sinbad-sama any longer. Why not? He was a pleasant enough man. Anyone should be able to trust in Sinbad-sama.

Her eyes were so sparkly that he noticed and sweat-dropped before taking a chair beside her, watching her, his eyes poring over her figure. She had long, red hair, like the sun, but not quite, a bright magenta, it was an unusual hair color he'd never seen before. Her eyes were the same shade as well.

However, her aura right now was not the same sharp aura he'd encountered before.

"Are you all right?" He asked her.

She narrowed her eyes. "I'm fine. Just...dissatisfied. I wanted to fight. I wanted to do something."

"Fight? You're not the only one who feels that way, trust me. Alibaba does a lot of neat things-and I can only watch him and be envious. But you know, we have a different sort of role to play. We're the leaders, we're the people they look up to. Think of it like that."

She stared at him before flushing. "You're...different from how I pictured you. I thought you were a sell out to your people."

"And I thought you were an arrogant noble. Seems like you're different, hm? You're also a very cute girl." Kassim said, "I heard you don't like Alibaba."

"C-Cute?" She stammered, her whole face turning cherry red. "Him? He's nothing but a rude, arrogant-"

"He's my childhood friend. He can be rude, arrogant and stubborn, but deep down, he's a good guy who's always done what's right, even if he seems weird at first. Trust me, you'll get to like him in due time." He said, keeping the news about Alibaba's...personality disorder secret. No one knew about this thing called...sociopathy or whatever, and they would mistreat Kida for it.

He wouldn't allow that to happen to his friend. He'd known him for too long, and whatever his illness might be, he was a good person, even if he lacked things like empathy, Kida had spent time asking him what that felt like, and how you imitated it.

* * *

 _"Kassim-san, I need to know how to say sorry!" He cried._

 _Kassim stared at him. "Won't it be like lying?"_

 _"Everyone lies! I just don't wanna seem like a bad person! I wanna feel bad for others even if I can't! Teach me how to sound and act sorry! I wanna be normal." He whined, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes._

 _"Look, you're still a human, even if you're a little different. I believe in you. You've protected me and pickpocketed for poorer people. That alone tells me you have a sense of morality, however different it is from my own." Kassim said, hugging the boy, who flushed._

 _Kida looked at him before scoffing. "You're an idiot if you hang out with someone like me! Aren't you afraid of me? Afraid I might kill you?"_

 _"You don't have the heart to kill."_

 _"Only when I need to." He said softly._

 _"Nah, you didn't even kill that squirrel that one time, I had to kill it. Why wouldn't you kill it, anyway?" Kassim asked, his eyes on Kida._

 _His gaze went to the ground. "There was this...bird that was in my yard all the time. I saw it...and I wanted to be friends with it. It was always friendly to me. It flew toward me and landed on my shoulder. I jumped because I was startled...and then the next thing I knew, I'd accidentally knocked the bird off my shoulders and it had broken its neck on the fall down. Had I known that, I would've saved it. I just felt my stomach churn and my eyes feel dry. I didn't cry but I felt like I'd done something "bad." Like I was a bad person but I didn't know how or why. So, from then on, when I saw animals, I just darted away from them. I didn't want to get near them. I was too afraid of myself and what I could do."_

 _"That's the sign of someone with a kind heart. Deep down, you do want to be a good person. You can be a good person, even being this way, Masaomi. Do you think I am a good person, even after what I did to my father?" He said, then put his hand over his mouth._

 _"You killed him, didn't you? Because he was abusing your sister." He said softly, like he'd always known but hadn't said anything out of respect for him._

 _"Yes, I did. But does that make me evil?"_

 _"I don't think so, you did it to protect someone else." Kida said softly._

"So he's actually a good person?" Kougyoku asked.

"Yes, he is. Although he's very hot-headed and stubborn at times, he's a good kid." Kassim said softly, stirring his wine. "You can quit listening in, King Sinbad."

Sinbad flinched and jumped. "N-Nothing! I heard nothing!" He yelped, curious about how Kassim and Alibaba knew each other. He knew the basic story, but to think they'd known each other this much. Sinbad wanted to know more about this Kassim kid.

He could prove to be a useful tool after all.

Alibaba-kun was a total idiot, but he was useful for something, after all.

* * *

Alibaba got back up to his knees, panting, glancing at his torn pants leg and the blood dripping from it, thanks to the blow from this psycho's sword.

"What are you?" He asked, parrying another blow. He couldn't even get close enough to punch, his punches kept missing.

"I could say the same of you." He said, his sword coming close to slashing his arm.

Alibaba ducked back, but Isaac's sword got caught in his arm.

Isaac smiled grimly and prepared to cut his arm in two, but suddenly, the blade was pushed back up out of it and he was thrown back by a powerful force that instantly healed Alibaba's wound.

"What was that?" He cried.

"Thanks." He mumbled to himself, watching the black rukh circle him and heal him. "You're not the only one with clever powers, you know. Aladdin is amazing."

"So are you." Isaac said, "How much more are you hiding, Prince Alibaba?"

He chuckled and gave him his most cunning look. "That's for me to know, and for you to discover much later on, when you're already dead, okay? You mind your own business, now." He transformed his knife into a bigger sword and prepared to continue fighting.

Aladdin couldn't help but keep his eyes on the lady Dunya as she fought. Then she transformed into a giant dark djinn, and he couldn't help but notice how Alibaba-kun looked absolutely fascinated with the demon.

"So that's what it looks like!" He muttered in awe. "So cool!"

"Alibaba-kun, we need to fight her!" Aladdin cried.

Dunya aimed at Alibaba, only for her darkness to do absolutely nothing to him, as black scales knocked the attacks backward.

"What is this?" Ithnan muttered, watching the dark scales recede into his body. "It's almost like he possesses the powers of a fallen one. But that's impossible. He hasn't been cursed. What is he?"

"Lord Alibaba!" Hakuryuu cried, and then Hakuryuu's arm was cut off.

Alibaba bit back a scream. The blood, it was making him think of old things he didn't want to think about. Things that made him want to throw up or hurt someone else just to forget about it.

He instead attacked the man Isaac, chopping him in two with cold efficiency.

"Don't you ever attack my friends again." He said icily, raising his blade above him in a distinct killing stroke.

The man chuckled, even as his sand started to collapse.

The girl, Dunya had transformed to normal and went to go check on him. As she did so, he disappeared and apparently he'd been dead all along. Watching her scream his name and then seeing the black rukh flutter by and hit Aladdin was surreal.

"Let's see her memories!" Aladdin cried.

Images of a young girl in a palace, playing with her knight on horseback, entered Kida's head. He saw her, happy and innocent. Her father, dead, a bloody massacre waged for no reason. So much like his own world. Then he saw the man called Isaac taking a death blow for Dunya and her begging for him to live.

He flinched and held his head, determined to push those memories back down.

 _"Help me, help me! I don't want to die! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"_

"Alibaba-kun, let's purify her!" Aladdin cried, maneuvering that sick white rukh and "curing" her of her sins. In other words, erasing all of her pain and what made her who she was. Nice.

* * *

When they cleared the dungeon and returned back with the girl, they were thrown a big festival. But Alibaba was in no mood for the festivities. That is, until a dancer approached him.

"Wow, you're really pretty!" He said.

The red-haired person removed their mask and he gasped.

"Morgiana, I had a hunch..." He muttered.

She flushed and rubbed her face.

He just snickered to himself.

Goddammit, making girls blush was a great thing to do.

He thought he spied that princess, drunk on god knows what...and Kassim...? Why was Kassim sitting beside her? Were they...friends?

Oh god.

As Morgiana danced, he called out to her and told her she looked beautiful, and watching her smile made him feel conflicted inside, somehow.

"Oh hey, rude girl." He said to Kougyoku, who flinched.

"For your information, my name is Kougyoku."

"Oh, okay then. Nice to meet you. See you and your boyfriend are chattering, I'll let you two have your fun-"

"B-BOYFRIEND?" Kougyoku sputtered.

"I don't know where she got that idea." Kassim said, his face darkening more than usual. 'Goddammit, Kida, you're so dead when I find you.'

"Morgiana." He said, finding her sitting down.

"Yes?" She said.

"Hold me." Was all he said as his eyes drooped closed and he fell into her arms, asleep.

The red-haired girl flushed deeply. Why did he keep choosing to fall asleep on her?

She noted how innocent he looked while asleep.

It was then that she noticed a grim-looking scar on his shoulders. It looked like a knife had inflicted that wound. How many scars did he have that he hadn't told them about?

She lifted him up, as he snored, and decided to take him back to bed.

He'd worked hard tonight, after all and deserved a break.

She tucked him into his covers, yet he still didn't make a sound. He must be knocked out.

"Thank you, Alibaba..." She said, pausing as suddenly his hand was on her head, patting her head...she flinched visibly before he paused, realizing his mistake as he rubbed his eyes.

His other hand was on her leg.

"Get off!" She yelled.

He shook with laughter. "You should've seen the look on your face!" The smile he flashed her way looked so real, so genuine and full of emotion that she almost forgot about what he'd done to her master and the genuine wrong feelings she'd gotten from him. Almost.

"You need to explain to me how you became fallen." She said, sitting down.

The smile fell off his face. "How?"

"Yes."


	11. Chapter 11 Befriending The Princess

**A/N: I know the last chapter was sort of hurried, but now we go onto my favorite part: Aladdin and Alibaba meeting with Dunya, and Alibaba (?) befriending Kougyoku. Sort of. Maybe. Kind of.**

 **Yeah, I'll put in some more Hakumor moments, even if I'm not a big fan of the pair. I can't just exclude those after all, they're part of the main story. And I need for Sinbad and Kougyoku to fight, too. Whether or not Mikado will come is beyond my knowledge. I just go where my muse takes me. One thing's for sure, with Kassim alive, things will definitely change.**

 **Yes, KassKou and Alimor are official pairings. Doesn't mean there won't be one-sided Alikou though. Kougyoku kinda falls for any guy who's nice to her, lol.**

 **Chapter 11 Befriending the princesses (And Hakuryuu is hitting on Morgiana?)**

* * *

Dunya Musta'sim sat, arms folded, on the bed she'd been placed in since coming here to this wretched country-everyone was so happy that it bothered her. She'd been "cured" of her dark rukh as though it was nothing but a curse. That Sinbad was up to something, she knew a liar when she saw one, and he was no different from how Ithnan-sama had been using her. He was just a smart one with a beautiful face. Those types could often woo any type of female.

Unfortunately for him, Dunya was very smart and couldn't fall for those kinds of lies.

The group of teenagers hadn't been in to see her with the exception of the blue-haired boy, Aladdin, who was very nice and amused her.

The door opened, and she looked up, in time to see a girl with pink hair walk shyly into the room, followed by that Kou Prince. Both of them muttered an apology, before the black-haired one spoke up.

"Are you well? I was concerned that you would be dead." He said.

She could tell-the one before her had suffered much in his short life-if the look in his eyes was of any indication. She nodded, slowly. "You are...the Kou Prince and Princess?"

She hadn't met any of them, but had been informed of them by Ithnan. Judar apparently liked both of them very much. The girl was no one special who'd conquered a dungeon, while the boy was very intelligent.

"Kougyoku, we've paid our respects, now let's go." He said.

The pink-haired princess remained.

"What's wrong, Kougyoku?" He asked her.

"I wanna stay." She muttered.

Confused, the black-haired teen walked out, shutting the door behind them.

It was just her and the naive princess. Great.

The princess fidgeted slightly, looking hesitant to talk until she began: "Um, I heard you fought against my cousin and his friends in the dungeon." His friends. She heard the way the tone shifted.

She must be envious of him, Dunya thought. It seemed like she, too, was an outcast, forgotten and alone, just like Dunya herself.

"Yes, I did. Why weren't you there?" She asked.

She hesitated. "I already have a djinn. I was just wondering...what your story was. Why did you...?" She asked, sitting down.

"Ah, you want to know the same thing everyone wants to know: why I fell. Basically, I had a kingdom like you and a happy life-until everyone died."

The girl gasped.

"How awful. I'm sorry-"

"Save your apologies. It was the country of Magnostadt that did that, not yours." She said gently.

The girl flushed. "Then what happened?" She asked.

"Well, Isaak came back to life and I fell into darkness. I served Ithnan, hoping to get my pride back. What about you? Aren't you tired of always standing in the shadows?" She asked. "I've seen you walk around, you act like you're afraid of doing anything to make yourself stand out."

"My siblings are more remarkable than I can ever hope to be." She said, hanging her head low. "I never introduced myself, I'm-"

"Kougyoku, right? I heard him call you that. What a pretty name. I'm Dunya."

"Pleasure to meet you!" Kougyoku said, bowing.

"There's no need to bow. I'm not a princess anymore." She said softly.

Before they could speak further, the door opened and Aladdin came in, followed by the same blond boy who'd killed her Isaak. Rage boiled inside her. How dare he come in here after what he did!

"You two! What are you doing in here?" She asked.

"It's the rude princess!" Aladdin cried.

"Now, now, Aladdin, get along with the princess. She's an honored guest." Sinbad said, causing Kougyoku to flush.

"Um, Sinbad-sama, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yes, princess?" He asked.

Dunya noticed the blond cast a suspicious glance in Sinbad's direction before turning back to her, a curious look on his face as he walked toward her.

"Sorry about what happened with your knight." He said lightly.

"You think that's enough? He's dead because of you." She said angrily, tightening her fists.

He blinked in confusion. "I apologized. Is that enough?" He asked tonelessly.

His lack of emotion annoyed her.

"Aladdin, could you leave the room? I have something to tell her." He said, quietly.

Aladdin looked at him in surprise. "But, Alibaba-kun-"

"It won't take long." He said, smiling thinly.

Aladdin nodded warily before walking out, a little upset that he wasn't able to spend time with Miss Dunya.

"What do you want?" She huffed.

"We have a lot in common, Miss Dunya." Alibaba said softly, sitting down on a chair near her.

"I don't think so, you killed Isaak." She snapped.

"He was already dead." He pointed out.

"True, but even so." She growled, "You're in league with that Sinbad, aren't you? You obey everything he says-"

"No, I don't." He said in a quiet, serious tone. She suddenly stopped upon seeing the dark look on his face.

"I don't obey anyone but myself." He said softly, "That's why I'd like to introduce you to someone."

Suddenly, a black ball of light appeared on his shoulder, drifting around lazily, before it spotted her and looked at her.

"Is that...black rukh?" She whispered.

"Yes, it's from inside me." He said, "You see, I'm also fallen like you. And this is Dark. He's a dark djinn who lives inside of me."

"How can a dark djinn live inside someone?" She said in awe, "Is it..."

"Yes, he's sentient. He saved my life. If it weren't for the darkness, I'd be dead." He said softly, as the dark orb disappeared.

"Master was right about you. You are our Dark King. How come the Magi can't sense it?"

"Dark can conceal himself well." Alibaba answered, folding his arms. "You're dying, aren't you? So this is a secret you will carry with you to the grave. But I wanted to tell you...you're not the only one who's lost everything. I lost my parents at a young age and was betrayed by those who I thought cared for me." He said in a quiet, wistful tone.

"Only those who've been through such pain fall, they see the truth of the cruel world they live in. Those out there are blinded by their naivete. Aladdin is kind but he's blinded by the benefits of the darkness." Dunya said, smiling at Alibaba. "I knew when I saw you that you had suffered some form of inner pain."

"How?"

"Your smile always looks strained, your eyes look tired and worn, you have a mature look to you and the way you walk. You're always carefully analyzing everything. Those who have gone through the same things can find those who suffered as they have easily." She explained.

"I see, so I was easy to read, was I?" He said with a laugh. "You're one smart girl."

"You're a talented, cunning boy. Why do you act? Why act so fake?" She said, "You can never be like the rest of them, so why try?"

"I know and understand that. I simply wish to get along with them, to understand them...and to fulfill my own objectives." He said, glancing out the window.

Dunya looked curiously at him. "Why are you trying so hard to win my sympathy? I'm dying."

"No, I'm not looking for pity from you. I wanted to ask you...what does being a Dark Djinn feel like?" He asked, tilting his head in interest.

"I don't know...what does being in your djinn equip feel like?" She asked.

"I guess it's kind of...hot." He muttered.

She laughed slightly, but then the door burst open and Aladdin appeared again.

"Alibaba-kun, I wanna talk to Miss Dunya! Leave!"

"But, Aladdin-"

* * *

Aladdin just pushed Alibaba right out of the room and onto the floor. Great.

He got up, shook himself off, and stuck his tongue out at the little brat with his eyelid pulled down and then scurried off with the energy he was known for, eliciting a surprised gasp from a maid nearby. He flashed her a smile and she flushed.

Kida Masaomi charm-works every time. Now to find Morgiana and Hakuryuu.

Sure enough, he went outside...and was immediately greeted by an unpleasant sight. Hakuryuu was up there, talking to Morgiana about something...and he was blushing. Fuck no. No, he wasn't allowing this to happen.

He looked around for something to throw and then picked up a rock and threw it up to where they were, out of sight. The rock hit the side where Hakuryuu was, startling him and causing him to nearly fall over, but Morgiana caught him.

Dammit, he'd been hoping for the little fucker to fall down and maybe injure himself, or at least show his undies. That'll teach him to steal women from _Kida Masaomi._

"What was that?" Hakuryuu asked, looking slightly scared.

"I think a rock came flying from somewhere. Did someone throw it up here?" Morgiana asked, picking it up and examining it. It just looked like a regular rock. But it smelled of someone. Alibaba?

No way would Alibaba throw a rock at her or at Hakuryuu-san.

"It was probably just an accident." Hakuryuu admitted, blushing slightly. "Anyway, Lady Morgiana, what I wanted to say is that you're really-"

"I'm really, what?" Morgiana asked, a little flustered by the attention she was receiving.

"You're really powerful. Kind, and strong. I admire that in you."

"You do? As a friend, right?" She said, smiling, "I'm glad we're friends!"

"No, I don't mean just as friends! I-I mean, that I like-"

" _OWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"_

A loud, piercing cry broke the confession in two, as Morgiana turned her head, in time to see Aladdin staring in disbelief at Alibaba, who had a huge bump on his head from Aladdin's staff. Apparently, he had run into it.

"Aladdin, that really hurts!" He whined, tears streaming down his face.

"Alibaba-kun, you were running too fast! You always do clumsy things like this and then get hurt! Remember how you destroyed that expensive statue of Mister Sinbad's by running so fast to Mr. Sharrkan you knocked into it?"

"Shush, that was an accident! This really hurts! Owww!" He whined, flailing about.

"It's all right, Alibaba! I'll get Miss Yam to look at you!" Aladdin cried, picking him up.

"N-No, I'm fine! Use your healing!"

"I can't heal you." Aladdin pointed out.

Alibaba's face fell. "Well, I'll go look for something-some plant to heal myself with."

"There should be some healing plants around here somewhere!" Aladdin cried.

"I could find some with Zagan." Hakuryuu muttered, a little suspicious of Alibaba's timing. Could it be that he noticed the two of them and was jealous? Well, he wasn't good enough for Morgiana, in Hakuryuu's opinion. He was a clumsy idiot. He'd probably knock into her and hurt her one day if he wasn't careful.

He paused, thinking over the image of the Alibaba who'd coldly suggested stabbing the villagers to end their suffering and imposing it on the image of the whiny Alibaba, before suddenly becoming confused. Which was the real Alibaba?

Was Alibaba just acting cool in battle, or was that his true face?

Had this whole thing been a ruse he'd been trying to pull on him?

But on the other hand, that wound and his tears looked real enough. Yes, Lord Alibaba was just someone who happened to look cool in battle and was a total idiot in actuality, he decided. There was no way in hell Alibaba was smart enough to hatch a plan like that.

Besides, wasn't he too oblivious to notice women, anyway?

Speaking of women, he glanced around for Kougyoku, only to see her lingering in the flower garden. What was she doing down there, anyway?

Even Ka Koubun wasn't around. She could be in danger.

He turned away, his gaze focused more on the sniveling prince, who had a bandage put on his head by Miss Yamuraiha, who promptly scolded the prince on how to be less rambunctious.

Was it weird that he didn't feel bad for the boy? Perhaps it was because of that disturbing behavior he had witnessed him have in that dungeon. Hakuryuu shuddered, seeing the cold look on Alibaba's face, as he prepared to raise that blade down, inches from the tree-person's chest...could that really be the same person down there, sniveling?

Either he was a talented actor, or else there were multiple personas to the boy known as Alibaba Saluja. The boy he'd initially dismissed as little more than an idiot had more to him than met the eye. And Hakuryuu wanted to know if his initial suspicions about him were correct.

* * *

Grumpily, Alibaba trudged around the gardens, looking for something to do. He was irritated at having to be told off by that annoying water woman. He found her to be the most annoying of all of them, mainly because of the water part. But there were other parts, too, that were just as annoying about her: her incessant doting on Aladdin, the way in which everyone acted like he was a total fucking idiot...he knew he was acting like an idiot, but it still pissed him off.

He slammed his fist into the ground in frustration...before a noise caught his attention. Planting himself behind a set of bushes, he could spy a figure busy in the flower garden. It was that princess...that royal brat. She was totally distracted and unaware of what was around her. She was smelling flowers...what the fuck? Was she getting high off of them? He didn't want to know what was in those flowers, to be completely honest.

Even so, he might as well scare her. Scaring people was funny. He liked doing that.

He was very mischievous, after all, and he had to fulfill his boredom somehow.

Quietly, he prepared to sneak up on her.

One...

Two...

She was so distracted, she would never see this coming.

Three...

And off he leapt, into the air, stomping right on the flowers she was trying to pick, causing her to let out a shriek and jerk her hand away from where he might have stomped on it. Aw, man. He wanted to see her break a nail, she was _that_ annoying.

"H-Hey, don't do that! You scared me!" She yelped, then her face turned sour when she realized who it was. "Oh...it's _you._ The rude prince."

"I thought that was funny." He said, scratching his neck, stifling his laughter.

Unfortunately, flowers were boring targets. They couldn't move or fight back.

Instead, he picked up a bug and started idly fiddling with it, making it run away from him and then playfully stepping on it.

"What are you doing?" She asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Stomping on a bug." He said, still in the same flat tone.

"I hate bugs." She muttered, "So do what you want."

"Sweet." He said, before stomping on it in one swift movement, killing it.

Kougyoku was pleased. At least he was useful for something. Bugs were super creepy, why did Judar-chan sometimes place spiders in her bed?

She shuddered.

He smiled and shook his head. "Oh, so what are you doing?" He made his voice as friendly as could be. Unfortunately, she took that as an insult.

"Nothing you'd like! You're a boy, after all. Not like you'd be interested in making flower crowns."

"Flower crowns?" He said. What a dumb thing to do. Besides, he couldn't make those. His hands just destroyed whatever they touched. He had been absolutely horrible in art class with making crafts. He was a good artist and a bit of a writer, if he did say so himself, but with things like papier mache, let's just say he would pretty much mangle whatever he did try to make.

Perhaps that should have been a warning, this kid is a sociopath!

"I can't make them." She whined, showing a completely dismembered flower corpse, lying in pieces. What had she done to it? "Can...can you make one?"

He stared at her. "...I can try, though I doubt I'll be any good."

Sure enough, his attempt left a tangled mess wrapped around his arm, with the flower crushed. Why did flowers hate him?

He'd tried to grow flowers before, but when _he_ watered them, they shriveled up and died.

It was like they thought he was pure evil or something.

She snickered. "You're just as bad at it as I am! I knew you couldn't do it."

"Shut it. I can try again." He muttered, his face turning red with anger.

The next one was still mangled.

And the next one.

He stopped after the third attempt, flopping down on the ground, tossing a rock in his arms.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Trying to take a nap." He said, yawning. 'To escape this boring scenery. It's too peaceful. There're no fires burning, nothing to steal of any worth...just too much grass, too much happiness. I'm allergic to happiness. And I'm allergic to her weirdness.'

She poked him, causing him to stir.

"What?"

"You know, I was out here picking flowers to give to Sinbad."

Oh, no.

 _Oh god._

 **Why** had he come over here?

Time to run away.

Fast.

She was an empath, and he drained empaths of their energy and turned them into withered husks. Seriously, empaths should stay away from people like him.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

Then don't tell me.

"But...But he's my first love."

Alibaba groaned inwardly.

Why did he have to be tortured like this?

Didn't she have a therapist?

Why didn't such things exist back then?

"I came here, thinking I could win his heart. But I really couldn't. I'm useless like that." Then, she started crying, leaving Kida wishing he could die.

So fucking manipulative. If he got up and left, he'd be seen as some jerk for not helping a girl. If he did do something to comfort her, he'd be rewarded with a most unwelcome follower and devotee.

He paused, before simply sitting there, waiting for her to stop crying. That seemed like the mature thing to do, just don't judge or say anything, just sit there and wait. The crying has gotta stop sometime soon, right?

She looked up at him, confused as to why he wasn't reacting. "Aren't you gonna comfort me?" She whined.

Are you serious?

How entitled was she?

"Let it all out. Don't be afraid to cry." He said, repeating trite phrases he'd read from some stupid positivity book years ago. His school counselor had given it to him. It was probably long gone now, along with that apartment he'd rented out from Izaya. Presumably someone else was living there.

Maybe Mikado had taken in some of his stuff.

He'd have to ask him for some of it when he got back. Whenever that was.

Her eyes widened and she wiped her tears away, smiling brightly. Oh, no. Oh my god, why.

"Thank you...you're not that bad." She whispered.

Holy shit...why was she suddenly friendly and nice?

She was insane.

He only feared what the rest of her family was capable of.

Time to get away.

"Hey...I was wondering if...if you could hear me out."

Oh no. He wasn't going there.

 _'I'm not your therapist!'_

"I...I'm actually a lowborn princess. My mother was a prostitute."

If Kida could slam his head against the wall, he'd be a bloody mess. As it was, his head slumped forwards, but his face still maintained the "interested" face.

"No one really talked to me or liked me."

Boo-hoo, he'd been through that, too, and yet here he was.

"My siblings didn't understand me-"

"At least you had _good_ siblings." He muttered, suddenly catching her off guard.

"Eh?"

"My siblings are estranged. They're on an island right now, away from me."

"What about your family?" She asked, leaning in closer to him.

He hesitated. "...My father was the king and he abduc-er, got me and eventually died from old age or something. I missed him, he was a nice guy and all."

You know, besides the abducting a random kid to fulfill your sick son fantasy part.

"What about your mother?"

Alibaba stared at her.

"What about your mother? Was she nice?"

Shit, what should he say?

He bit his lip, remembering bruises, beatings and bite marks.

' _WORTHLESS! I WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!_ '

He hesitated.

"I...didn't really know her. Kassim raised me, she died when I was really little."

This was the cover story Kassim had told him to use.

"Oh, so you're friends with him?" She said.

"We go way back." He said, but only about five years, of course he omitted that piece of information from the story.

"We seem like we have a lot in common."

Oh boy, doesn't that sound cliche?

He was leaving.

"I was-"

Ten, not interested.

"Thinking,"

Nine, he's going to leave now.

"That, maybe..."

Eight, he's not interested, goodbye.

"We-"

Seven, he's not here anymore. He's starting to get up.

"Could-"

Six, he doesn't care.

"Possibly-"

Five, he is sick of this conversation and needs to nap.

"Maybe-"

Four, he is just going now.

"Potentially-"

Three, how do you know such an advanced word?

"Be-"

Two, he's about to leave now. Make your own flowers and butcher them.

"Friends?"

One, wait... _what?_

He stared at her, wide-eyed.

"Pardon?"

"Friends. You and I could be friends?" Her eyes were sparkling. "I mean...you listened to me without judging me-"

Oh boy, he had judged her a lot.

"You don't tease me like Judar-chan does-"

Oh boy, he was beginning to like this Judar person more now. But he still attacked Aladdin.

"So, can we?" She said, looking desperate.

In that instant, he was faced with an ultimatum, reject her and look like the world's biggest dick, or accept and be the world's biggest dick, condemning her to be manipulated by a sociopath with no regrets.

He really didn't want to manipulate someone as innocent as her. He really didn't.

But it was too late, he'd exposed himself to her. So he might as well fulfill the nice guy image.

Swallowing, he extended his hand.

'I've either made the biggest mistake...or the best mistake of my life...'

After all, she could be eyes and ears into the family of many secrets. Perhaps the Kou Empire knew a way to take him home? Maybe he could use her to figure out a way back home and maybe he could explain everything to her later, much later?

Nah, he's not letting her know the truth.

Maybe Morgiana could know...maybe Aladdin.

But not this girl. He barely knew her, nor did he wish to get her involved in his affairs.

"Sure, let's be friends."

'Boy, I sure wish you had better taste in friends.' He thought darkly, as she smiled widely. It was a pure and genuine smile, one that made him pause and honestly wonder if he was a villain as she genuinely believed this was a real friendship.

All it was was a partnership.

He knew she was a human being. He understood that much. He understood people had motivations, goals, and the like. It was just their feelings he struggled with.

"I'm Kougyoku!" She chirped.

Holy shit, what?

Why was her name _Japanese?_

D-Did they possibly have Japanese people here?

Did people from his world come here before?

Wide-eyed he stared at her. "Do you know what language your name is from?"

She blinked in confusion. "No. It's just the Kou Empire tradition to name a kid Kou."

Oh boy, nice individuality. They're probably all mini dictators.

"I'm Alibaba!" He chirped.

"Do you wanna fight with me?" She asked, suddenly transforming her hairpin into a sword.

He paused. Oh wait a second, wasn't this girl...a w-water user?

Oh no. No way.

"I'm...I'm afraid of water." He muttered.

* * *

She looked at him as though he were mad. "I won't get you wet, silly. It's just a match!"

"I'd be willing to partake." Sinbad, thankfully intervened, catching the princess's attention enough in time for them both to transform, Kougyoku into her Magical Girl uniform...gee, why did she show so much chest? And what the fuck was with the earrings and...blue hair?

Why was her hair blue now?

And now Sinbad looked like a giant Pidgeotto. Nice.

He watched them fight in interest.

Then Sinbad turned into a smurf. It wasn't a smurf? It certainly looked like one.

"Cover your ears, Alibaba." He said.

He did so.

Then Kougyoku fell to the ground. He just watched her fall.

Then it occurred to him...yeah, she was no good dead, after all. And she didn't seem to hate him, having someone around who didn't hate him was a bonus. Plus, maybe she could teach him about these strange emotions he was missing. Maybe she could give him more insight into how empaths lived and understood things. He was honestly missing large pieces of the puzzle.

He walked forward for some reason and just as he was about to extend his arms out to her, she floated to the ground, unharmed and landed there, sleeping.

"Did you bring a Jigglypuff or something, Sinbad?" He joked.

"What's a Jigglypuff?" Sinbad asked.

"A mythical creature that sings people to sleep, then draws on their faces." He said sarcastically.

"Sounds dumb. Anyhow, I put her to sleep with Zepar." He explained.

"You look kinda strange like that." He said.

"I don't choose how I look." He said.

"Alibaba-kun, I've been wondering about your djinn equip. I haven't seen you use your djinn much."

"He hates me." Alibaba whined.

"Some practice should make him change his mind." He suggested.

"Did I fall asleep?" Kougyoku asked him later.

"Yep." He chirped.

"I don't remember."

Huh, brainwashing?

Mind control?

Maybe she was just forgetful.

Kougyoku declared that she wouldn't fight a war against Sindria, and that's when Alibaba knew. Sinbad had used some form of subliminal advertising on her, like some kind of suggestion. Maybe a Drowzee or Hypno was involved.

He'd played Pokemon too much as a child.

* * *

That night, when he dreamed, he dreamed of Mikado, and of putting his lips against his.

"Mikado...I love you more than anyone."

"Masaomi, what happened to you?" The smaller teen said, but Alibaba silenced him.

"Shh, it's okay, Mikado. I'll be back soon, don't you worry about me. I'm still alive! Don't worry about me!"

* * *

Elsewhere, Mikado awoke with a start.

He'd just dreamed...of Kida-kun, wearing funny clothing, hugging him and telling him he'd be back soon.

Was Kida alive?

If he was alive, where was he?

Mikado decided that maybe he could find his friend.

He just wondered how.

Those clothes looked like desert clothes. Maybe he was in the Middle East?


	12. Chapter 12 Encroaching Darkness

A/N: Okay, I realize I haven't done much of anything on Alibaba's relationship with Sharr and I'll fix that. I also plan on unveiling more of Kida's past in this chapter, namely Um Madaura, because it's gonna shed light on some more of his inner character, and how he was treated. So, warning for abuse, some dark things, and horrible parenting.

I'm just devastated rn, so I know I'm in the perfect emotional state for writing this. (so also, we're gonna work on two chapters at once! holy shit, two, amazing, I know!)

Warning for graphic violence, depictions of childhood abuse, in general this chapter is a lot darker than others, because we're looking into how a person with ASPD /can/ be made, not born. It takes a lot of horrible trauma for a normal mind to be altered into the ASPD mindset, but that doesn't mean they're not capable of achieving happiness, our society is just cruelly...apathetic towards them.

Italics-Alibaba's memories or thoughts, another character's thoughts.

Bold Italics-Dark's thoughts.

 **"It's not my fault, I never meant to be this way. When I look back on it, if I hadn't been mistreated, I wouldn't become a sociopath. But that's all right, that's who I am today. It doesn't make me any less of a human being. I just want to find a purpose for myself. People I can become attached to. It's here that I say in my writing today, sociopaths are made, not born. Sociopaths are not the be-all and end-all of evil. Everything we do-lying, cheating, to killing are things that Empaths do on a daily basis. We are just easy targets who have no allies. That is why I wish to show the world that I am not evil just because of who I am. Sociopaths are not evil." -Alibaba Saluja/Kida Masaomi's diaries.**

Chapter 12 The Weak Point (The shogun snaps)

Sharrkan laughed as he swung his blade back and forth with his new partner, Alibaba Saluja, the former third prince of Balbadd. The first thought he had of this boy was that he was a carefree spirit. In battle, however, he took on a completely different aura, a much more focused and determined one. This made swordtraining him interesting, as while the boy seemed to be rather clumsy off the battlefield, on the battlefield he was much more calm, focused and interesting.

He turned to look over at where the prince was currently, sweating and just talking to himself for some reason. Maybe he was reassuring himself, Sharrkan thought, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. Now that he looked at the lad, he recalled a few peculiarities about the boy-sometimes, he often thought his accent didn't resemble the traditional Balbadd accent. There were times where the boy would trip over the language that was supposed to be his native tongue. The most unusual thing about the boy, though, was his hair, he thought-it was just messy, in a cool sort of way. Sharrkan tended to like people with wild-looking hair.

"Alibaba, don't lose your concentration." He warned the other, who was still aiming the blade at him, lost in his thoughts, and as a result, wound up with his blade being smashed against by Sharrkan's sword. "Be careful not to lose your guard. And not all enemies are going to be nice."

The young man's expression didn't change. The smile was still in place, but there was a hardened, cautious look to his eyes. That was always good, the warrior pose was a bit dramatic, although a necessary look for battle.

"I know that!" He muttered. "I just want to be able to be as good as the others...all of them are leagues ahead of me. The only thing I'm good at is with the sword, and with punching."

Punching?

He'd _never_ seen the boy punch anything before.

"You're good with your fists? No wonder it's so difficult for you to transition to swords, then. You're like Morgiana."

The boy's face flushed scarlet. "You don't need to bring her up into this."

Ah, so someone had a little crush. That was adorable.

"Show me your strength with your fists."

"But, Master-" There was a whiny note to the end of his voice, but Sharrkan wanted to know his strong and his weak points, so as to help him improve upon it.

"I want you to hit that tree over there, as hard as you can," Sharrkan challenged.

The boy's eyes widened, and a confident smirk came on his face. "It feels good to get back into doing that again. I'm a puncher."

"And Morgiana is a kicker. Does that make you the perfect pair?" Sharrkan snickered.

The boy blushed slightly. "Shut up, you're breaking my concentration."

"Right, sorry, Alibaba. When you're ready," Sharrkan said, "I want to see your strength so we can improve upon your djinn equip."

Or perhaps the boy had to go somewhere else to equip himself better-be a gladiator, possibly? Some of them knew stuff about magoi control even he didn't know.

He watched the boy calmly prepare himself, and then go up to the tree, and then he slammed his fist into the tree. It was a hard punch, that left a considerable dent in the wood, and a few pieces of wood fell to the ground.

"Ow, I got a splinter!" The boy whined.

Sharrkan gaped. The boy wasn't kidding, he really _was_ good with his fists. He doubted he'd last a second against a Fanalis, though. They were just too powerful.

"That's amazing, Alibaba! Why were you keeping such a thing secret?" He asked.

The boy blanched. "E-Eh, I like keeping my strengths under wraps. So the enemy doesn't know everything."

"What a way of putting it. You seem to have quite the cunning side, don't you, kid?" He said.

"I guess so." He muttered, lowering his head. "I'm not _that_ good."

"Nah, you're good enough. You know, if you want good training...you should ask Sinbad about sending you to the gladiators in Reim."

"Reim gladiators?" He asked, his eyes wide. "That sounds...pretty _cool,_ actually. Would I be able to punch people there?"

"I guess so." He said, a little amused by the boy's enthusiasm. He actually wasn't the pacifist he pretended to be, huh? He actually liked fighting.

"Well, then, sign me up! Thanks, master Sharrkan, when I get back from there, I'll share a ramune with you!" He said, smiling before he ran off.

"What a weird kid. He's a good kid, but sometimes I'm just a little unable to understand what he's thinking." Sharrkan said.

Well, wasn't this grand.

Aladdin was going to this universe's equivalent of Hogwarts, Morgiana was going away to the "Dark Continent", apparently, so he'd be on his own for this trip.

But apparently, first they were going to do a little adventure on boats.

Yes, Kida was not prepared for this part of the journey.

"Why do we have to go on boats, Sinbad-san? Couldn't we go by plane?" He asked.

"What's a plane? Something you imagine, Alibaba?" He asked, looking at him in curiosity.

"Yeah, something like that! I just don't like water too much." He muttered.

Sinbad looked at him as though he were nuts. "You've lived near water your whole life." He said, disbelieving. "How is this possible?"

' _ **What an idiot that man is**._ ' Dark muttered, **'If even his own generals have seen something suspicious about you and yet he hasn't, I highly doubt he's a genius as people claim he is.'**

' _Indeed,'_ Alibaba sighed. Apparently, everyone else was splitting up.

In some other country, he could do whatever the fuck he wanted-a glorious prospect, yet also frightening. At his worst, he'd managed to spread rumors about many people, stolen a ton of money for Kassim, and had knocked approximately twenty people unconscious in a fight. Just kidding, it was only fifteen. OR maybe ten. Who knows?

* * *

As far as he knew, Budel was still working the same position he was in, with nary a noble coming toward him. Budel had actually come up to him and been begging him to save him from this life of labor! It was too much for his poor, sad, noble heart.

Alibaba had just cheerfully told him he couldn't change the laws of the land and that Budel had a job and he should stick with it and someday, he'll be happy. Key word: happy, an illusory phrase or state of mind, also known as bullshit, since he doesn't know of those things, therefore they don't exist, said to keep dumb people happy and in line. Prevent them from questioning or thinking too much, and oh boy, you've got people like Aladdin.

No offense, but the poor kid didn't understand exactly what poverty and cruelty were. He seemed to act as though he were above that entire system, how dare the poor people of Balbadd steal to win money that they needed! He had a good heart and good intentions, sure but he was awfully misguided sometimes, especially when it came to his tendency to come to only a few poor people, and mostly the rich and powerful, such as Sinbad, Miss Hakuei, etc.

Still, when he thought of Budel suffering the way he had, it brought him pleasure, something that obviously shouldn't happen, but did happen. Thanks to that little something missed called "empathy." Empathy wempathy, he could still understand death and pain without necessarily needing to burst into tears. How many people came to funerals because they were actually sad, or was it all a chance to look as sad as possible, just to milk it?

He wondered and wondered some more about all of it. Of course, he did a lot of wondering about a lot of things, so this was nothing new in and of itself.

So that girl Kougyoku was leaving. Too bad he didn't think much of her.

"So, you're leaving, then?" He asked, looking at her with feigned interest. She'd become a bit more bearable, he supposed, but she was still way too emotional for his tastes. However, she would make the perfect pawn for a while, so he might as well learn something from her about empaths. Perhaps she could teach him how to imitate or even feel what he was lacking. He always wondered if that was possible. When he was thinking about using her, his stomach had churned. He wasn't quite sure what that meant, was he sick?

"Well, I'll see you later, Alibaba-chan." She said, waving. "I'll be sure to write to you while I'm away. It'll be lonely with just Judar-chan for company."

"See you, cousin." Hakuryuu said quietly.

"Next time, I'll be sure to be much better at flower crowns, Alibaba-chan, and you'd better be practicing, too."

"Yes, ma'am," He said sarcastically.

"I really don't approve of you," Ka Koubun said, "You seem like a suspicious individual-"

"Oh, calm down, Ka Koubun, Alibaba-chan here wouldn't hurt a fly."

 _'Yeah, right,_ ' He thought derisively.

"So, Hakuryuu, are you going back with them?" He asked.

"No, I'm going on my own." He said.

"And Morgiana's coming with us?" He asked, turning to indicate the Fanalis, who blinked.

"So you guys, what are you all going to do?"

Aladdin blinked before speaking, "Well, Mister Sinbad told me I can study abroad in a place called Magnostadt."

"Magnemite?" He asked.

"What's that?" Aladdin asked.

"Nothing." He muttered.

"Magnostadt is a city where magical people live."

"So it's like Hogwarts."

Upon receiving odd stares, he chuckled. "It's something I made up."

' _Gotta cover my tracks better.'_

"Sinbad-san told me that I could go there and learn magic, but regular people aren't allowed to go."

' _That sounds like discrimination. Real nice, magicians. Everyone's as racist as the people in my world._ ' He thought darkly.

He saw all people as people, although he shared a somewhat equal indifference to their lives, though those who had helped and supported him earned his respect. Others would just be avoided by him unless they'd done something really heinous. He made a mental note to keep an eye on this Magnostadt place. It wouldn't do for Aladdin to become a racist, after all.

Definitely wouldn't help.

"I'm going to return to my homeland." Morgiana said.

"What about you, Alibaba?" Hakuryuu asked.

He chewed his lip. "Um, I'm not sure yet. There are a lot of things I still want to do. Hakuryuu, what are your siblings like?"

Hakuryuu blinked. He'd never asked about this subject before. "Um...why do you want to know?"

"Just curious, is all." He muttered. He fidgeted a little.

If any of his brothers had magical powers, maybe just maybe they had something that could send him back to his world. Did he want to leave as soon as possible? Yes, however...would any of them be upset by it? The thought made his heart sink in his chest. He'd have to stay here for a while longer, then. He just hoped Mikado wouldn't age and forget about him when he came back.

"Um, it's really nothing. I don't know what I should do. So I'll come with you, Aladdin-"

"You can't."

"Oh, okay, I'll go with you, then, Morgiana."

She looked surprised. "I doubt you can handle the terrain."

"Then, can I go with you, Hakuryuu?"

"I'm not sure you'd be welcome."

"Oh, I see, then. Sinbad told me I could obtain better training at a gladiator place."

"Gladiator? That's something you can definitely do, Alibaba-kun!" Aladdin yelped, "You're very strong!"

"Yeah, if you say so, Aladdin, you're much stronger than I am."

They were all ready to go on their journey.

"So, how are we getting there?" He asked.

"You all will sail by a boat." Sinbad said cheerfully, indicating the giant vessel that drifted happily on the waves leading to the...w-water.

Alibaba's eyes widened. "W-what?"

"What's wrong, Alibaba-kun?" Sinbad asked.

"B-Boat? You must be joking, Sinbad! I'll just walk all the way there! Bye bye!"

But Morgiana suddenly grabbed him by his scarf. "We're going by boat, Alibaba."

Alibaba flinched.

"Could we not? I don't like water."

Sinbad stared. "Water can't hurt you."

Alibaba gritted his teeth. "It doesn't matter! I'm not going on a boat!"

"Yes, you are," Morgiana retorted.

"Fine," Alibaba grumbled, "But I'm not gonna like it."

' _Where did Alibaba-kun's fear of water come from_?' Sinbad thought, 'That's strange, he's grown up around water.'

"I didn't know he feared water. No wonder he avoided me." Yamuraiha said.

"I wonder where that would come from." Jafar said.

"Perhaps some accident in his childhood." Masrur asked.

Why hadn't he noticed that before?

He thought he'd known everything about him, was there something more to him than met the eye? No, Alibaba-kun was an idiot.

Anyway, as they got on the boat, Alibaba was seasick for the first couple days.

"Will you ever stop throwing up, Lord Alibaba?" Hakuryuu complained.

"I can't...stand...waterrrrrrrr." Was his only response.

"He's been whining like this for three days. I'm getting tired of it." Morgiana said.

"Morgiana...please destroy water." He whined.

"I can't do that." She said.

"Why don't you like water?"

"Because it's disgusting, filthy blue stuff."

"That's pathetic." Hakuryuu scoffed.

"I can't swim, anyway, so..." He trailed off.

"Why?" Morgiana asked.

Alibaba flinched, an act that didn't go unnoticed by Hakuryuu.

'I wonder if he has some sort of trauma that made him scared of water...perhaps, something in his childhood. Hm.'

The more he spent time around Alibaba, the more he was starting to suspect that the blond was a good actor. He found it amazing that the other two didn't notice it.

"Aladdin, save me from water!" Alibaba whined, clinging to his pant leg.

"No, Alibaba-kun, do it yourself." Aladdin said, looking at him with scorn.

"HEARTLESS!" He whined, breaking down into "tears."

"Such a baby." Aladdin muttered.

While they were on the bridge, Alibaba kept to his cabin, sulking. What they didn't know was he was actually writing in his diary that he kept stashed away in his clothing...to Mikado. One day, he'd show this diary of his adventures to Mikado. He'd hidden it, along with a shard of his scarf and his cell phone, and a pen.

He was busy writing about his life.

 **'Dear Mikado, Hakuryuu is a douche. They're all making fun of me for having a fear of water. It's not my fault I'm afraid of it, right? It's not my fault. Water and I just don't get along.'**

Suddenly, a knock on the door came.

Alibaba hid the papers away. "Yes?"

"Lord Alibaba, I would like to talk."

"About what? Show me how you tamed your djinn." He whined.

Hakuryuu refused.

"I find it incredible that the other two haven't noticed, but you are quite the actor."

"What are you talking about, Hakuryuu?" He said cheerfully. On the inside, he was shitting his pants. This kid was way too smart for his own good.

"I'm saying, you're merely acting most of the time. Why were you acting that way in Zagan?" He pressed.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Yes, you do."

But then suddenly, the boat rocked.

"Hakuryuu-san, Alibaba-kun, bad news!" Aladdin cried.

When they got up to the deck, there were a bunch of boys floating in the air...in giant bubbles.

They wound up taking most of the crew hostage.

 _'Bunch of little brats.'_ Alibaba thought.

Then they went to the seaport town and learned a bunch of kids had been kidnapped. Boo-hoo, whatever.

"We will make sure those children come home safely." Hakuryuu said.

Why did Hakuryuu care so much? They were just kids.

But then Alibaba found himself thinking of his past and how he'd wished someone would've saved him.

' _No, no use dwelling on that now_.'

"We'll save them!"

' _Maybe, just maybe, if I do something like this, it'll throw that kid off my trail. He won't suspect anything_.'

 _'Lord Alibaba is again acting like how he usually does. Maybe I was wrong_.'

Then as I went to the boat base, Alibaba was shaking.

"Alibaba, get off the boat." Morgiana said.

"Sorry, guys, go on without me." Alibaba whined.

"I'll carry you, then, if you really can't swim, I'll carry you."

"Thanks, Morgiana." He said, flushing slightly.

As they were carried in, they started fighting the pirates again.

He spotted the same annoying brunette kid.

"Hey, Mohawk dude! Why don't you grow some more hair? That's so last summer!" He taunted.

The boy blinked. "Are you insulting my hair? Get them. Bring them back to mother."

Alibaba realized only too late that his sword wouldn't work on them. "Kids like you shouldn't be handling weapons." He said cheerfully.

Hakuryuu immediately knocked one kid back.

"Mother!" He whined.

' _Such an annoying sound_ ,' Alibaba thought.

"We have to give our energy to mother!'

Alibaba was surprised at how much Morgiana did.

"Wow, Morgiana, you did it!" He cried.

"No problem." She said.

Morgiana was still bewildered by how he'd clung to her for dear life while they were in the water. What could've happened to him to make him so terrified of water? She usually knew him as this arrogant, proud kid, who tried too hard, but she wondered why he'd looked like a frightened child. It was the first time he'd shown her such vulnerability.

' _Could Alibaba have been?_ '

No, he'd told her he'd grown up in a loving home.

Morgiana frowned. The more she tried to understand him, the less she knew.

Even so, he was just a regular kid. Perhaps he'd just had an accident with water.

As they came closer to the center of the hideout, they found their way blocked by a bunch of children with swords.

"We'll fight back for mother!"

"Get out of the way, you'll get hurt if you don't." Alibaba said sharply, "Put down your weapons!"

"Alibaba, they're just children!" Aladdin whined.

"They're our enemies. We'll just subdue them." Hakuryuu said softly.

"Mother!" A child whined.

It just pissed Kida off, hearing that word.

He stepped forward, then immediately, gently brushed the child aside. "Stand aside, we're here to talk to your leader."

"Talk to mother?" The children said.

"Yes, now let us through." Hakuryuu said.

"You'll become one with mother?" They said.

"Never said that." Hakuryuu said.

As they approached, there was an ugly purple-haired woman sitting there.

"Welcome, my children." She said.

"We're not your children." Aladdin pointed out.

"Well, you will be shortly. Allow my magic to fulfill your needs, and then you'll find the mother you've always wanted!"

' _What the-_ ' Was all Alibaba thought, before suddenly a strange purple mist surrounded them.

He looked around, he saw Morgiana on the ground.

"Mother!" She said, tears in her eyes.

"Morgiana, what are you...?" Alibaba asked.

"She's my mother..." Morgiana said.

What the hell was she saying? Was this brainwashing?

"Come to your mother." The witch said.

Alibaba noticed Hakuryuu on his hands and knees.

"Must fight back...Mother."

"Mother...Alibaba-kun, don't give in."

* * *

Much to Aladdin's surprise, Alibaba-kun was completely normal, only looking confused as he studied the other two.

Why wasn't he showing any reaction?

Um Madaura smiled.

The girl would be a great asset. She didn't know what she was, but her strength would make her a great use. The other boy was giving in, but the other two were resisting.

The Kou Prince would make a nice addition.

Her gaze stopped on the blond, who was simply standing there. There was no change in his expression.

She aimed her magic more at him.

Alibaba started shaking.

'Mother...' He thought.

Yes, now that he thought about it, he did recall his mother.

But...through it all, he kept a clear head.

For some reason, this magic did not affect him.

'Does it have to do with you, Dark?' He asked his other self, who nodded.

 **'In a way, yes. I also think your mental state deflects those sorts of things. You don't have empathy or an emotional connection ability. So therefore her magic is useless on you. Most of them have that emotion called empathy. You don't have that, so she cannot control you. But still...I'm seeing your memories. Do you want me to take you through them?** "

"Yes." Alibaba said, and then Aladdin noticed his best friend slump to the ground, unconscious.

"Alibaba-kun!" He cried.

"He will be under my control soon!" Um Madaura purred.

* * *

As Alibaba, no, Kida, drifted through his memories, he thought of his mother.

'Mother.'

He paused, upon reaching a particular memory.

Dark landed in it and the two of them landed on the ground.

' **How old were you here**?' He asked.

'About...six.' He muttered.

There was a small brunette child playing outside, by himself, with no adult in sight.

Suddenly, a car pulled up and a beautiful woman stepped out, with dark brown hair, however her eyes were dull. From the way her cheeks were flushed, it was obvious she'd been drinking. As she stepped out, some men helped her.

'Ah, yes, mother would always bring her lovers to the house.'

' **What does that mean**?' Dark asked.

'Basically...she just had a lot of guy friends, and I didn't understand that.'

He watched his younger self as he ran toward his mother.

 _"Mommy, I'm so glad to see you! I made this for you!" He held out what looked like a folding crane. "It's supposed to make a wish come true."_

 _"I see," She muttered, though she didn't look very impressed._

 _As she went into the house, the child followed behind her, talking fast._

 _"Who are those men, Mommy? Are they your friends?"_

 _"Yes, they're my friends, why the hell do you want to know?"_

 _The boy flinched. "I just wanted to know where you were, Mommy. I got lonely." He looked at the ground._

 _"That's none of your business! Why don't you go outside and play, you little shit?" She growled, before getting out a beer and drinking.  
_

 _"But, Mommy, I'm lonely without you! You could spend some time at home!"_

 _He watched his younger self receive a sound blow to the face._

 _The brunette cowered against the wall._

 _"Mommy, what was that for?" He whined._

 _"Don't you dare mommy me, you disgusting thing! It's all your fault."_

 _'Ah, not this again,' Alibaba said._

 _' **What**?' Dark asked. _

_'She blamed me for Dad disappearing, said it was all my fault.'_

 _' **Humans are disgusting. Well, this one in particular**.' Dark remarked. _

_"It's all your fault!" She snarled, picking the child up, even as he struggled._

 _"Stop, Mommy, you're hurting me!"_

 _"Am I hurting you? Good. You can enjoy that, you fucking piece of shit." She growled, grabbing his arm and twisting it._

 _"Mommy, that hurts! Stop!" He yelped._

 _"I'm not stopping, not until you realize to mind your own business! I didn't even want to have you, and you're always here, whining at me about stupid shit! Why don't you shut the hell up?" She growled before taking the beer bottle and aiming it at him, but he dodged._

 _His arm was now sore and bruised, the boy started to cry._

 _"Quit your crying! No one told you you could cry, you disgusting creature!" She yelled._

 _"Mommy...stop, I don't like this!"_

 _"I don't like this, either. You think I like being stuck with a pathetic brat like you? I could've been out there, with him. But he left me because of you!"_

 _"I'm not a monster...I'm your son." He whined._

 _"What was that? Are you gonna continue crying like a little brat?" His mother taunted._

 _The boy said a nasty curse word and the mother gasped._

 _"What did you say?"_

 _"I said, screw you, you're not my mommy, you're a witch!" He cried, trying to punch her, but she caught him and swung him around before throwing him against the wall._

 _"I can't move my arm."_

 _"Too bad. I'm going to watch TV, don't you dare interrupt me, Masaomi." She growled._

 _"Mommy...I made this for you." He held out the origami folding crane._

 _"You made something for me? Well, that's nice. You are doing something for me, after all. What the hell is this?" She said, "I thought it was something like jewelry! I thought they were teaching you worthwhile things in school."_

 _"Mommy...I made it for you..." He said weakly._

 _"Shut up!" She cried, ripping it in two._

 _The brunette stared at her, eyes wide._

 _"Next time, get me something useful." She growled._

 _"I don't want you bothering me, or else you'll be in even worse pain."_

 _The young brunette sat there, sobbing._

 _' **What a disgusting human. I want to kill her.'**_

 _'She's already dead, so...' Alibaba trailed off._

 _"Masaomi, come here." She said sweetly._

 _'There were times where she would act nice, but she just used me to look better. I think she might have been a sociopath herself.'_

 _ **'Certainly seems like one. Only seemed to care about herself.'** Dark said. _

_'She is the lowest human. There was no love in her heart for me.'_

 _' **Why did she hate you so much**?' Dark asked. _

_'I think it's because I existed. I reminded her of what she lost. Her heart broke when she discovered she was pregnant with me. She just told me all that. Since then, I can't bond with a woman. I just can't do it. I'm too afraid.'  
_

 _' **Morgiana's differen** t.' _

_They went to another memory._

 _Masaomi's mother touched him and he winced._

 _"There's no need to flinch, I'm your mother and I won't hurt you!" she said sweetly._

 _"Really, Mommy?" He asked, "So you won't hurt me?"_

 _"Not if you're a good boy." She said, patting his head. He winced a little._

 _"Now, is that any way to greet your mommy?" She asked._

 _"All right."_

 _"That's a good boy. You see, Mommy is pregnant."_

 _"Really?"_

 _"You might have a brother or sister. See my stomach? There's a baby in there."_

 _"I could have a brother or sister?" The child exclaimed happily._

 _"Yes," She said, "If you're a good boy, Kida, you will have them. I made something for you that's very small, so please eat it. I'll have you play outside for a while, my male friends are here, and a child would get in the way."_

 _"But I wanna meet them!" He protested._

 _"Do as Mommy says, okay?"_

 _"All right."_

 _The young boy tried to come in later, only to find that the door was locked._

 _"Mommy, let me in!" He screamed, pounding on the door. "Let me in!"_

 _Eventually, he wound up using a ladder to climb into his room from the window._

 _"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot about you." His mother said cruelly._

 _' **What a bitch,** ' Dark said. _

_'Indeed.' Alibaba remarked._

* * *

Aladdin stared in worry at Alibaba. The unconscious young man was still twitching and turning, mumbling about his mother under his breath.

"Alibaba-kun.." He whispered. His mother had been a nice person, that's what he'd told them.

"Mother..." He whispered.

 _"Mommy, do I have a brother or sister?" Masaomi chirped, nine months later._

 _His mother smiled. "As a matter of fact, no."_

 _"Why not?"_

 _"I lost the baby." She said, in a far too cheerful tone._

 _"Why?" He asked._

 _"I decided I didn't want another child. So I got rid of it." She said cheerfully. "By aborting."_

 _"What does that mean?"_

 _"It means that a brat like you goes away and never comes back. Actually," She said, lifting up her stomach in time to show her completely normal stomach. A beach ball was over in the corner. "I was fibbing. I was never pregnant to begin with."_

 _The boy gasped._

 _"You played along with it for a while."_

 _"You're a witch, I hate you!" He screamed._

 _"Good to know our feelings are the same." She said, before she put her hands around his throat._

 _He suddenly couldn't breathe._

 _ **'Horrible** ,' Dark remarked, ' **I'm sorry you had to suffer through this.'**_

 _'It's no problem.' Alibaba said, staring apathetically._

 _"Mother, I can't breathe." He gasped._

 _"Shut up, I wish you'd just die! Why aren't you dead?"_

 _She tried to strangle him, but he was too quick and charged up the stairs to the bathroom, but she threw him in the tub full of water._

 _"This'll teach you and get rid of you."_

 _The seven-year old flailed madly as his head was dunked under._

 _'I've hated water ever since...' Alibaba remarked._

 _'You nearly drowned.' Dark said._

 _'I hated her.'_

 _He watched his younger self jerk himself up, latch onto her hand and then bite her._

 _"You little shit, how dare you bite me? I'm gonna kill you!"_

 _"You're not my Mommy! I'm gonna call the police!"_

 _"Ha, you try doing that! You're just a child, they won't believe you." She scoffed._

 _'I tried doing that, but every time they just dismissed it as a child playing pranks and mother blew it off.'_

 _Then he ran out the door, with her screaming at him to come back._

 _The boy noticed a passing couple and ran into them, sobbing._

 _"You've gotta help me. She wants to kill me!"_

 _'Those two happened to be Mikado's parents,' Alibaba explained to a fascinated Dark, who was watching in awe._

 _"What happened to you? You're covered in bruises." Mikado's mother said._

 _"Mommy tried to kill me!" She sobbed, "She hates me!"_

 _"Take him if you want him, I don't!" She yelled, before storming off._

 _"We'll take you in and try to adopt you!" The mother declared._

 _'Even though they cared for me, they couldn't adopt me, as she was still my legal guardian. I still spent as much time there as I could, as she was often away from home.'_

 _'That's good.'_

 _'When she wasn't there, I was a lot happier. Of course, there was Mikado as well...'_

 _They both saw a dark-haired boy emerge from behind the door, and gasp audibly upon seeing the bruise's on his younger self's throat, hands and face._

 _"Who's that, Mommy?" Mikado squeaked._

 _"This is our son, Mikado." The mother introduced. His younger self nodded._

 _"What happened to him?" Mikado demanded._

 _He watched his younger self collapse on their couch, sobbing. "Mommy tried to kill me..."_

 _Mikado watched, sympathy evident on his young face._

 _"Your mommy hurt you? That's terrible. Why don't I protect you from her?"_

 _"You can't protect me, you'll just get hurt!" Masaomi protested._

 _The boy laughed. "I won't let that happen! I'm Mikado Ryuugamine, what's your name?"_

 _"Masaomi Kida." He sniffled._

 _The boy extended a hand out to Masaomi. "We'll be friends, and I'll protect you!"_

 _"You will...?" He muttered. "That's my job."_

 _"We're the same age, right, so I can help you?" Mikado asked._

 _From that day on, Mikado watched over Masaomi, and guided him through school._

 _'There was only so much Mikado could do for me, but it all ended one day. I saw, through the newspaper...that she died.'_

 _'How?' Dark asked._

 _'Father came back to town, looking for her. He found her in bed with another man. Enraged, he snapped and then stabbed the lover to death, before stabbing her to death, and then he took his own life. I was...in the hands of Izaya by then, so...'_

 _"Mikado, they're dead." Masaomi, a little older this time, informed Mikado. He was smiling for some reason._

 _"Masaomi, why aren't you mourning them?"_

 _"Because they were horrible people. They abused me. Why should I mourn them?"_

 _"But still, shouldn't you feel a little bad?" Mikado pressed._

 _"Mikado, she was a horrible person. She never loved me. Not once. I gave her love and got nothing but hatred. I'm glad she's dead."_

 _"Masaomi, it's all right. I'm here for you." Mikado said, hugging him._

 _"Your pity doesn't solve anything." He said coldly._

 _'I was too harsh on Mikado. I didn't know it, but I'd leave him in a few years' time.'_

 _'That boy truly cares for you. I'm sure he hasn't forgotten about you.' Dark muttered._

 _'Thanks, but still, that Um Madaura person...what are you going to do?' Dark concluded, staring at his vessel._

 _The young man said nothing, but narrowed his eyes. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to pay her back for making me revisit these memories."_

 _Dark smiled widely. He liked it when he showed his dark side. 'Have fun, Kida.'_

 _'Normally, I'd punish you for saying that name, but for now, I'll let it go,' He said softly._

 _And then he woke up._

* * *

He saw Hakuryuu struggling to fight, and Morgiana looking completely brainwashed.

"Alibaba-kun, are you all right?" Aladdin asked.

Alibaba didn't answer.

He was simply...calm.

Everything seemed to come to a halt there, everything around him...everything just became a lie.

It was all a lie.

How dare this woman...because of her, he'd gotten memories that he didn't want to remember or be in.

The memories that he did not want to deal with...ever.

"Alibaba-kun?"

Alibaba got up, and walked past Aladdin, without looking at him.

"Stay back, Aladdin." Was all he said, "I'm fine."

His voice was completely devoid of all emotion, delivered in such an eerie monotone that it made Aladdin shudder.

"Alibaba-kun?"

Alibaba stared at him. There was no emotion from him at all right now.

"Alibaba?"

"I said, get back, Aladdin." He said. "I'll... _deal_ with her."

"What do you mean?"

But Alibaba ignored him, walking towards Um Madaura, at a casual, almost relaxed pace, as though he didn't have a care in the world.

"Get away from Mother!" Hakuryuu cried.

"Stand aside." Alibaba said.

"No, she's my mother."

"She's not your mother, you've been deceived, you fool."

"Lord Alibaba..." He transformed into his djinn equip.

"Get away from me. If I have to beat that mind control out of you...I will."

"Alibaba, stop, don't hurt him!" Aladdin cried, "He's being controlled."

"I know," Alibaba said curtly, "And sometimes, you can't reason with people when they're like this. Aladdin, you take on Hakuryuu. I'll deal with her. You use that power of yours...what was it again?"

"Solomon's wisdom!" He replied.

"Right, see if you can't use that to free them from her control."

"Um...what are you going to do?" Aladdin asked, his hands shaking.

The Alibaba-kun before him was scaring him, this wasn't like his friend at all.

"Don't worry about it," He said, in a softer tone, "Just...it's all right, it'll be all right."

He walked away from him.

Aladdin couldn't stop shaking as he watched his friend walk towards their opponent. What on earth was with his demeanor and his cold attitude? The way he was right now, it was like he didn't care.

"Get away from mother!" The children cried.

"I thought I told you to stand aside before." Alibaba said simply.

"I'm not gonna let you hurt mother!"

" **I warned you**." He said, in boredom.

He slapped the child across the face and firmly pushed the child backward, into the arms of another child.

"What'd you do that for?" They demanded.

"I told you: stand aside." He glared at them.

The children saw the feral look in his eyes, like that of a fox ready to devour a chicken, and shuddered. There was a sense of evil about him that they didn't trust.

"Monster, he's a monster."

"He's not a monster, he's my friend! Alibaba, don't hurt a child again!" Aladdin cried.

But Alibaba ignored him, his gaze was now on Um Madaura.

"Oh my child, do you wish to become my son?" She purred.

Alibaba said nothing in response, continuing to calmly walk towards her before stopping. Then he smiled.

"Alibaba-kun, don't fall for it." Aladdin warned.

"Oh, mother." He said softly, "I'm sorry, but your tricks don't work on me."

Um Madaura tried her magic again. The mist surrounded him, but even so, he remained in one place, the same calm expression on his face.

"Is that all you can do? Pathetic. You can't even fight adults yourself, so you control these children and have them do your dirty work for you. That's just fucking pathetic." He said scathingly.

"Who are you?" She said.

"The former prince of Balbadd. And the one who's about to expose you. She's a fraud!" He cried to the children.

"That's a lie!" Olba cried, "Mother loves us!"

"That's not true. She's been using you, for her own gain."

"No, she'd never do that."

' **Fools**.' Dark thought.

The children once again got in his way and Aladdin in front of them.

"Stop!" He cried.

"All right, all right," He muttered, putting his sword away.

The woman was arrested and as she was being led away, they could hear the children whining for her.

"Mommy..."

"Stop it." Hakuryuu commanded.

'So pathetic,' Alibaba thought.

"Alibaba-kun, what got into you? You can't just hit children!" Aladdin protested.

"Lord Alibaba was efficient in battle. I was impressed." Hakuryuu admitted.

"You're my children, aren't you?" Um Madaura crooned. "Hakuryuu...Hakuryuu, you're a good boy, aren't you? You'll save me."

Hakuryuu turned to stare at her but turned away.

"Alibaba...Alibaba, you're a good boy who'll do anything for his Mommy, right?" She said.

Alibaba stared at her, before he walked towards her.

"Alibaba-kun!" Aladdin cried.

" _What on earth is that boy thinking_?" Amon wailed from inside his head. " _I knew it was a mistake to choose a half-fallen brat?!"_ He growled.

" **No, he's efficient.** " Dark said, " **He has a lot of good, but he has a lot of bad, too.** "

" _I shouldn't have._.."

" **Don't be so judgmental. The darkness isn't so bad**." Dark said menacingly, cackling, which made Amon retreat to the farthest corner.

" **You're no fun**." Dark whined.

" _Oh, for Solomon's sake."_

" **Who's Solomon?** " Dark asked the other djinn, who flinched.

"No one in particular." He said, not wanting to have this discussion with a Dark Djinn, of all things.

For some reason, there was an area of Alibaba's mind that he could not access.

Very frustrating. Normally he could access all areas of his contractors.

"Alibaba, you've come to save me, right? Alibaba..."

Alibaba looked at her, and smiled, widely.

"Fuck you." Was all he said, before he drew out his blade, transformed it into a giant black blade that Aladdin had never seen before, and then-Aladdin and Morgiana gasped, and Hakuryuu's eyebrows rose as Alibaba immediately shoved the sword straight through the heart, an instant death guaranteed. Blood poured out from her as the woman gagged on her own blood.

"What...?" She said.

"No, mother!" The children cried.

Olba screamed insults at him, but even so, Alibaba did not react. He just stared at them before taking the sword out of her, which he knew would cause her blood to clot, and would so result in her death.

Far too merciful for someone like her.

"You are a monster." She said.

"You are the monster. Farewell, Um Madaura." He said softly.

"Alibaba-kun, why?" Aladdin screamed, tears welling up in his eyes. What the hell had he just seen? H-Had Alibaba-kun just...just... _killed_ someone?

"Alibaba-san..." Morgiana whispered, totally horrified at what she had just seen.

"An execution, where did he learn how to do something like that?" Hakuryuu muttered, not at all as affected as they were, due to having seen the prince's hidden sadism once before. So he really was that ruthless, after all.

The light faded out of Madaura's eyes.

"Good job, Lord Alibaba. My brothers and I would have done the same thing. Where'd you learn that?"

Aladdin came up to him, watching him wipe the blood off of his sword with a handkerchief before withdrawing it into his sheath.

"Alibaba-kun...why did you do that?"

"Oh, Aladdin." He said, the cheerful aura returning once again, "I don't understand why you're so mad, I really don't. She was hurting those children, and now they're freed from her. They might be upset now, but in time they'll get over it."

Aladdin and Morgiana shuddered. What the hell was wrong with Alibaba?

"So that's it..." Hakuryuu whispered. 'I know what's wrong with him. He has no conscience...'

Hakuryuu realized this horrifying fact a bit too late.

Nobody talked about the incident.

* * *

Morgiana and Aladdin took to avoiding him, too afraid of him.

Alibaba spent time alone.

"Alibaba-kun..." Aladdin muttered.

"I wasn't entirely in control of myself. Sorry." Alibaba said, feigning regret. "I went too far...I should've let the military do it."

"But she didn't need-"

"Yeah, she kinda needed to die. I'm really sorry, Aladdin-" Although, he actually wasn't sorry. He couldn't help but shudder at the innate satisfaction he'd felt. He normally didn't feel that way. He normally hated killing, but in that instant, he'd imagined killing his mother, and that pleased him, but now the mere thought revolted him.

' _I wasn't going to be the murdering sociopath...and I failed._ ' He thought darkly.

"Alibaba-kun, why didn't you tell me before that you're fallen?" He asked.

Hakuryuu looked up in surprise upon hearing this news.

"Yeah." He said casually.

"Why?"

"You wouldn't have understood. You think all fallen people are evil, but that's not the truth."

"You didn't have to kill her. You're scaring me, Alibaba. I thought you were a nice guy." Aladdin sobbed.

"Aladdin, relax. It was a fast end for her. I didn't want to see those children suffer any longer. It was mercy, okay? Look, I know you may not understand why I did it, but you'll understand someday. Let me just tell you that I'm different from you, Aladdin. Please, try to understand." In that instant, Alibaba again looked like a total stranger.

"I don't understand." He whined.

Alibaba put his hand on Aladdin's head, who winced and stepped back.

"You're a murderer." Aladdin said seriously.

"I'm not a murderer." He said softly.

It was then that Aladdin noticed that Alibaba was crying.

He patted Aladdin on the head.

"Get some sleep, Aladdin." He said, before moving to sit beside him. Aladdin scooted away, but Alibaba moved closer, failing to notice his body language.

Alibaba gently patted Aladdin's head again. It was a rough touch, but now it felt gentle again.

Aladdin was reminded of the cold, sadistic face he'd seen Alibaba wear. At that moment, it was like he'd been looking at a...at a lifeless statue, with no one there.

"Did I dream that?" He whispered.

"No, you didn't. I get protective of children. I don't like seeing children getting mistreated, I had to watch Kassim get beaten up by his father..." Alibaba lied through his teeth, but it seemed to placate Aladdin.

"So that's why you reacted in that way."

His father was long dead by the time Kida had met Kassim.

"You really care about him, don't you?" Aladdin said.

"I do. I was reminded of him...so I lost control and.."

His lip trembled. "I didn't want to..."

This, of course, was acting. But the tears felt real, and he felt utterly weak for some reason.

"It's all right, Alibaba. You did it because you feel bad for those children." Aladdin said.

'Whatever you say, Mr. Magi.' Dark quipped.

Alibaba almost laughed. "Yeah, I did."

"You did a bad thing to do a good thing. Mister Sinbad is the same way!"

"He is?" He asked, feigning stupidity.

"He tried to make me be the Magi of Sindria, but I said no." He chirped.

"Good for you." He said.

Before Alibaba settled down to sleep, Aladdin watched over him.

He wondered why Alibaba was acting like that.

Hakuryuu was lost in his thoughts that night and couldn't sleep.

'Lord Alibaba definitely has no conscience. He's acting. But I should keep it secret. After all, I haven't been completely honest with them, either. I don't remember what they're called...but there are people that walk among us who act like him. Kouen told me about them before. They lack empathy. Someone who doesn't feel anything at all for hurting other people...I didn't know Alibaba was like that.'

The more he thought about it, the less he knew about him. Alibaba was just...special, in a strange way. Whatever secrets he was hiding, they had to be big ones.

And Hakuryuu wanted to know why he was hiding. What he was so scared of.

The next day, Alibaba sought out Morgiana.

Morgiana had been avoiding him, looking fearful of him.

"Alibaba...are you going to hurt me like Jamil did?" She asked.

"No...never. Not you." He said quietly. "Forget about it, okay? I wasn't myself then."

She flushed slightly upon seeing him step toward her.

"Morgiana...I'm sorry I scared you. Next time, you can kick me, okay?" The look on his face was genuine and awkward. For once he looked like a regular kid his age.

"Alibaba...who are you?"

The teen blinked. "Ah, I don't know how to answer that, except that I'm a lost prince looking to find his way!"

"Thank you...Alibaba." She said, her face flushing, but then the wood below them cracked.

Yup, she was angry.

Alibaba immediately turned around and hightailed it.

* * *

Then, all of them departed and they were off on their journeys.

Alibaba was all alone now.

Now, he was going to train at this gladiator place. Hopefully, it was worth it.

Steeling himself, he walked into the town of Reim, hoping for the best.


	13. Chapter 13 Toto gets schooled

**A/N:This is just my outline of what will happen in Chapter 13! Alibaba heads for the Reim Gladiators, though, keep in mind that this Alibaba is a badass gang kid who doesn't take shit from anyone (as the last chapter showed.) He figures since he's here, he can unleash his manipulation tactics. Watch as Toto's stubborn but violent persona meets her equal in the form of Kida Masaomi. Is it a match made in heaven, or a match made in hell? Haha, the quote is true for my character, who is sort of...difficult with women, as you will see. Not a misogynist, just suffered from abuse by a woman and thus has difficulty dealing with them.**

 **But if there is one aspect that Kida and Alibaba differ on, it's that Alibaba is too much of a marshmallow. He lets himself get pushed around and does nothing to change it. Kida doesn't put up with that shit. You try ordering him around, he'll kick your house down.**

 **I just worry I make Kida look too OP but keep in mind, even starving, Kida does have muscle and is strong. Kida is also the kid who took a crowbar to the head and remained standing. It took several blows to bring him down. He also stood off against both Celty and Anri without any fear. Being a sociopath also makes him pretty fearless. Which is both going to work and not work for him here.**

 **It is here where we see more of his cunning, devious side show. As such, he's more referring to himself as Kida here and less as Alibaba. Kida is his cunning, true side, of the "Shogun" side, and Alibaba is the mask.**

 **Kida is more worn down here from the previous chapter (where he had to live through his memories of his mother's abuse of him, again.) That left him in** _ **excellent**_ **moral fiber and spirit.**

 **""Men have sacrificed and crippled themselves physically and emotionally to feed, house, and protect women and children. None of their pain or achievement is registered in feminist rhetoric, which portrays men as oppressive and callous exploiters."**

― **Camille Paglia**

* * *

Chapter 13 Kida encounters Toto

Kida Masaomi, now known as Alibaba, sighed as he wandered around the streets of this shitty place. Everyone he talked to ignored him, so he was pissed off as fuck, and hungry. He was going to resort to stealing something if no one would treat him like a human being. He'd been dumb enough to take that white-haired guy's advice...what was his name again? Shere Khan...no that was the tiger from that Disney movie...whatever the fuck his name was, he swore he was going to punch him through the ceiling when they next met.

Why the fuck would he need to go _here_ to get physical training? He'd already had it, from Izaya, of all people. He was as lithe and quick as you could get. Plus, he was hungry as hell, these people were douches, and what else could you expect from a shitty-ass world like this where slavery was still allowed, gladiators were still a thing, and no human rights organizations existed?

Oh yeah, and no public bathrooms, no telephones, no radios, no tvs, and no internet. Fuck this. He'd rather be back home...than wasting time here. The former Shogun scoffed and kicked the ground, causing some dirt to fly into his face.

"Oh, fucking hell! So annoying!" He growled, swiping the sand off his face.

He glanced over, and noticed a person pointing and laughing at him.

He immediately shot them a death glare, and the person paled and ran for their lives, recognizing danger when they saw it coming.

"Fucking asshole." He grumbled. When Kida Masaomi was cursing, the gang members knew to run. He might be little, but that didn't mean he couldn't and wouldn't fuck you up. When he was in a good mood and wasn't cursing up a storm, he was happy. But when he was cursing or looking irritable, then you ran. Worst of all was when he smiled.

That meant impending hell was going to hit you.

His eyes widened in interest as he spotted food.

Oh, there was an opportunity, right there. Some food was lying there, untouched.

Kida dashed behind a corner, waiting, watching. Smiling widely, he quietly tiptoed over to the location of the food, hid under the table, and immediately swiped a piece of bread and tucked it under his clothing before melting back into the shadows.

 **'Are you sure this is a wise idea**?' Dark asked.

 _'We'll be fine._ ' He chirped, taking out the bread and munching on it stealthily, chewing as slowly as possible, so it didn't look like he was eating. He was casual, and then the bread was gone. Kida felt some more strength come into his limbs. This was better. Unfortunately, the rest of it was already taken.

He spotted a cute girl up ahead, dark-haired...ooh, and he could see her boobs from this distance, too. Perhaps, if he asked nicely, she'd deliver him some nice food.

' _She's pretty fucking cute_.' He thought.

He wasn't quite sure why on earth he was referring to himself with his previous name. Perhaps that's because it's who he truly was, under the Alibaba mask.

He was just a regular guy who enjoyed women, and cherries. Maybe some cherries were here.

Confidently, he made his way up towards her, before he decided to test her clemency. Slowly, he dragged himself on the ground, acting sickly.

"Help me...please, give me some food." He begged.

Surely, she would help a sick beggar?

She blinked and stared at him for a few moments, before her eyes hardened with contempt. "Go away. There's no food here."

"But...But I'm poor. I need food! Give me some, please!" This was where he became more theatrical.

Then she did something even _he_ wasn't expecting.

She grabbed his arm, hard, much harder than should be legally allowed, and started to swing him around. All right, this was getting fucking irritating.

The nice guy mask was going right the fuck off.

Who the _fuck_ swings around an injured person?

"Toto will make sure _you_ stay out-"

Kida immediately swung himself out of her arms and did a couple parkour gestures, landing on the ground, but whining as though he'd hurt himself, and sniffling. "Y-You hurt me! All I did was ask her for food, and she started hurting me! She tried to throw me around! Someone, please help me!" He begged, bawling.

Instantly, a red-haired man walked over, looking concerned.

"Toto, what's going on here? Why would you throw a homeless person around like this?"

The black-haired girl paled. "T-Toto was just doing her job. Besides, h-he begged Toto for food, and Toto told him to go away-"

"You would honestly turn away a poor person? That's _disgusting,_ Toto." His eyes narrowed and then were filled with sympathy as they took in Kida, who was still fake sobbing.

"Thank you so much..." He said, actually thankful there was a nice person for once.

He got back up, rubbing his head. "You didn't have to do that, you hurt me!"

"Stop complaining about it, you stupid idiot! Toto should have thrown you higher."

Much to her surprise, he casually got back up, turning to face her with a wide grin on his face.

"You know what? You have a nice body and all, but you're a _total_ bitch." He said cheerfully.

"W-What the?" She cried, totally bewildered by his sudden 180 in personality.

"I think I already hate you, which, given that you tried to murder me for _simply_ speaking to you, is one hundred percent logical and rational. Ah, it's simply horrible. I just wonder...what King Sinbad will do if he learns you tried to swing around one of his favorite pupils." His eyes were glinting now.

"S-Sinbad?" She gasped, her face bright red. "Y-You're from _Sindria_?"

"Sure am. I'd be glad to tell him how well you guys are treating tourists here. Might impact your income a little bit, I'm sure, if I tell him how they're treating their homeless. So, Toto, was it? I _could_ have you charged with attempted assault and battery, but I'll drop the charges if you... _feed me_." He said, smiling widely, pronouncing every word in a condescending, yet cheerful tone.

Her eyes widened and she backed away. "W-What the hell is wrong with you? Toto won't feed you, you lied to her and made her think you were poor-"

"I wonder how you would have treated a genuine poor person. Do you believe yourself above them? Disgusting. Which is why, if you don't want anyone finding out about this, feed me, okay, Miss Toto?" He purred, in an obnoxious tone.

"You're full of shit." She growled.

"Yeah? Well, you're a _piece_ of shit, so I think I know just who I'm above. I came here to get training, and it feels real nice to meet an upstanding person who wants to murder the newest recruit." He chirped.

"All right." She growled.

Toto had never hated anyone as much as this rude boy. He'd insulted her, said she was a bitch, and worst of all...how the hell had he survived her throwing him? She'd seen him move, but then he was back on his feet.

What the hell was with his mood? It kept changing.

He was eagerly devouring the food, although not making a mess. He spied a red fruit and then his eyes lit up and he devoured it happily, his eyes shining.

"Ah...cherries, they're made in heaven, just for me." He moaned. "Thanks for the food, by the way. Maybe some time, I'll return the favor." He said cheerfully before grabbing the glass of wine that was before him, sniffing it and pushing it away. Yup, he could tell when drinks were drugged, he wasn't dumb. Izaya had had like a thousand assassination attempts by both Shizuo and mafioso members, so he'd trained Kida in that, too.

"I do so hope that wasn't drugged with anything. I'll pour myself my own glass, thank you." He said softly, asking for an alcohol, which was brought to him, and he poured it for himself and started to drink it.

"Why'd you waste that?"

"Ah, didn't you know? Never drink anything you haven't made yourself. People can slip things in it, like poison or drugs or ecstasy. Then you can fall unconscious and horrible shit can happen." He sniffed the drink and took a cautious sip. "Smells all right. That's good."

"Don't be so paranoid!" She yelped. "You're such an asshole."

"Yeah, and what's your excuse?" He said, his face was reddened slightly.

"See, you're a tactless-"

"Uh-huh."

"Insensitive-"

"How do you know that? I only reacted _because_ **you** _threw_ me." He said cheerfully.

"And a jerk!"

"No one would be happy with being thrown around, okay?" He said softly.

"Just fight me, you coward! I wanna punch that smug smile off your face!" Toto cried, trying to punch him, but he lazily turned his head to the side.

"You're too slow. Sorry, but you'll find I don't drink that much, because then you lose focus of everything." He said, having actually diluted it with water to distill the alcohol somewhat.

As he stood up, he turned to walk away.

"Wait, what's your name?" She asked.

"Alibaba, Prince of Balbadd." He said smoothly.

Everywhere, heads turned.

"Alibaba, did he say?"

"The prince of Balbadd?"

"Balbadd? What is he doing here?"

"Alibaba? The one who threw his brother off the throne and put in that guy?"

Whispers and suddenly cries were being thrown at him.

He cheerfully nodded and smiled at them.

"W-What an arrogant little!" She growled.

"Remember...sweetheart, you'll put up with me for a little while, and then, bam, I'm gone. Okay? I've put up with people like you, you're nothing compared to them. So please, do shut up and try to be a little nicer, okay? It doesn't do to be mean all the time." He said to her, softly, but with a menacing aura that was nothing short of disturbing.

What was _with_ this guy? How was he so goddamned good at shutting down dissent and at switching tones?

"W-Who are you?"

He smiled. "Alibaba, Sinbad's emissary and here to train with the gladiators. Nice to meet you."

Toto couldn't believe she'd let herself get humiliated by that blond-haired brat. He was so smug and full of himself it pissed her off. Sure, he acted dumb, but he acted like he owned the place.

* * *

Worst of all was how he humiliated her in their first duel.

"If this duel doesn't have honor, I'm not partaking. I'm sorry, but all I see before me is a cheater. I can't use my magic, yet she can?" Kida said icily.

"She can, she belongs here!"

The boy scoffed. "If that's the way it is, then fuck it. I forfeit the match. I'm not dueling a cheater."

Toto's eyes narrowed. How dare he call her a cheater-he cheated with his emotions!

"Come back here and fight me like a man, you coward!" She yelped, aiming her fist at him.

But he just turned around quickly, and caught her fist in his hand, which remained in place.

What the fuck?

She couldn't back out of his grip. _How_ was he so strong?

"Let go of me!"

"Only a _coward_ strikes their opponent from behind. You're a true coward. You play dirty, then try to fight dirty when your opponent is unarmed. Since you're a woman, I'm going to let you off easy with just this." And like that, he firmly pushed her aside, before turning to walk away.

"Wait, you can't just leave!" Shambal called.

" _Why_ shouldn't I? I've been disrespected, spat on and insulted since I got here. I didn't expect this to be full of dicks who love beating down others. I won't fight a coward. She's a coward who just so happens to be a girl. Her sex has nothing to do with it."

' _Nothing to do with it?'_ Toto thought, wide-eyed.

"I refuse to be humiliated by a man!" She cried.

"...Oh, and I _could_ have done a dirty trick there by cutting your armor. But that's below my standard, so I didn't. I suppose I'll stay, if I can fight her in a fist-fight."

Toto smiled. She could best him.

She charged at him with her bare hands.

He side-stepped.

She got him in the neck when he wasn't looking.

"Nice," He said softly, before he paused-and flicked her forehead, "I'm not in the mood to beat up a girl, so there you have it."

"Excellent speed and timing." Shambal said, "Your defiance is something to be concerned about."

"I'm all about honor. If there's no honor, there's no decent fight." He said, sticking his hands in his pockets. The boy looked like a true leader, speaking like that. He walked and held himself like a true fighter. Oh yes, this boy had seen combat before.

But how would a prince see such things?

Curious.

"You may stay here, Prince Alibaba."

"Thanks, you're not bad, old man." He said.

"Master...how come he didn't cut my armor?" She asked, gazing down at where her...her parts would have been displayed for others to see. The thought of such a thing happening made her cheeks heat up.

"He's a strange young lad. But I believe he has a true gentlemanly spirit. That is why he let you off easy in that fight. He could have done real harm to you, yet he chose to just damage your pride and leave your modesty intact."

"He's sexist!" She cried.

"He saw you as another fighter he had to beat." Shambal said. "He will be an interesting addition, for sure."

"He's just an arrogant idiot!" She cried. "Toto refuses to see him again."

* * *

However, in the morning...suddenly the blond idiot was in her room.

"TOTOOOOOOO, TIME TO WAKE UP! THE SUN IS SHINING!" He cried.

"Shut up! Toto gets up when she needs to!" she growled, pressing her pillow on over her ears.

Was this her punishment? Now he was acting like an idiot again.

Who was this guy? Why was he able to change faces so often?

One second, he was an arrogant, condescending asshole, the next he was a friendly guy.

"Tottttttooooo. Aren't we buds now?" He said, poking his head in. Now that she got a good look at his face, his face looked different from any others she'd seen before. Why was his skin so tan? And his eyes looked different as well. His eyes were closer to a golden-brown than true gold.

It was then that she noticed the single odd point on his head, a tiny piece of hair sticking up.

"Shut up, I'm not waking up."

"Then I'll eat _your_ food, you silly girl." He said, cackling darkly as he charged down the hall with impossible energy.

"What the hell is his problem?" She cried. "Is he an idiot or a genius idiot?"

She found him trying to smoke a cigarette.

"Nah, I'd rather not get cancer and die an early, painful death. Fuck that." He threw the cigarette on the ground and kicked it away.

"You don't smoke?" She asked, "It's supposed to be healthy."

"It's not. It shortens your life and makes your teeth look nasty. It also causes a sickness to grow inside you that kills you very fast." He said cheerfully.

"S-Sickness? What do you mean?" She cried.

"It's a secret." He chirped. "You know, you're still a bitch, but you're cute. Very cute."

"Eh-"

"Especially your hair. Looks like Kassim's."

"M-My hair?" She stammered, "I thought you were gonna mention my-"

"Ah, _that_ area. Yeah, I looked there, but I'd much rather look at your face while talking to you."

She blinked, a little surprised by his sudden earnestness. "Aren't you a jerk?"

"Aren't I a human?" He said simply, "Look, I have my male desires, I'm a simple guy, I do look when I see boobs."

She slammed her fist against the wall.

He smiled. "Ah, just like Morgiana. Nostalgic. Anyhow, that's how I am."

Suddenly, he fell back on his side-and he was asleep. Sound asleep.

She shook him, but he slept solidly.

Around thirty minutes later, he awoke.

"Ah, looks like I just fell asleep. I suddenly do that sometimes."

She also noticed that he didn't blink very much, and he sometimes had an eerie stare.

"How come you don't blink?"

"Eh? Some of us just...don't count it enough to care?" He said in annoyance.

"Oh."

What a confusing boy.

Her heart was pounding, though.

No way...she couldn't be falling for this asshole. No way in hell. She'd sooner _die_ than fall for him.

(Kida's POV of these events)

* * *

Well, he'd gotten here and managed to meet a bitch who swung him around for no reason. Humiliating her had been worth it. He loved calling others out on their bullshit, it was so much fun, he thought, as he ate his food.

He noticed the red-haired man from before watching him, along with a bunch of his friends. Wait, were they...Fanalis? He had no idea that there'd be any of them here. Not that he minded any. He smiled and nodded in the red-haired man's direction.

"Thanks!" He said, coming a little closer to them.

They stopped, glancing at him as though he were nuts, before the red-haired man nodded.

"It's no problem. I don't mind defending the people who can't stand up for themselves. Did you say you came from Sindria?"

"Yup! I came to train here!" He said, "But I certainly didn't expect to be thrown around like that. Is that girl always that way?" He asked.

"What, Toto? She can be a little feisty and protective, but give her time and she'll warm up to you. My name's Mu, by the way."

"I'm Alibaba, Alibaba Saluja." He said.

"You mean like that prince from Balbadd?" He asked.

"Yeah. That's me!" He chirped happily.

Mu hesitated. "It's going to be tough for someone like you to survive here. The gladiator training can be tough. You might have to fight her to get in."

Kida shot a look over at Toto, who was still fuming.

'Fight her, hm? Like hell. She'd probably cheat or something. This must be the land that fucking hates me for no real reason, knowing my luck.'

He wished Mu a good day and walked off, having drawn curious stares from other people.

"Oniisan, he holds himself like a fighter." The red-haired woman beside Mu said. "He's so calm."

"I know. He's tougher than he looks. But will he survive the training here?"

Kida didn't appreciate being gossiped about, but it seemed to be a thing here. Great, he was the outcast here. He'd have to either keep the persona up or else drop the mask and win himself some goddamned respect.

Either way, he thought there was just a chilly reception here, which pissed him off. They saw him as a loser. He didn't like being underestimated. Still, he smiled and moved on. Except for that annoying girl, Toto.

* * *

"Toto," He called out to the girl in the crowded room, "I'd like for us to battle for real."

Toto stared, before her eyes widened. "You!"

"I was sent here to train as a gladiator. Who do I have to battle to get in?" He said, his eyes full of the usual confidence he had. Let's just say his Shogun instincts were kicking into full gear.

The old man seated next to her smiled. "You can battle Toto..."

All right, he could ace this one easily with his powers-

"You can't use your djinn equip powers in this fight."

What the fuck?

A simple sword fight? With the grudge she held against him, that was sure going to go _well._

As long as she didn't cheat in any way, he'd be fine. He drew his blade, swinging it around a couple times, looking clueless. Looking clueless was a great way to lower your opponent's opinion of you, making it even harder for them to predict how good you were in a fight.

If you showed your true face all the time, you became stupid and easy to beat.

"All right, as long as this is an honorable duel, I accept." He said lightly, shooting her a glance.

She frowned, before raising out her own sword.

"I must warn you, she is very good, young man." The old man said.

Kida just nodded in his direction, before concentrating.

He moved forward, just as she did, and then their blades met, and then the battle began. So far, she was pretty easy to read, fast, light on her feet, and also arrogant. She seemed to think she was above him. Too bad. He knew

 _'I'm a master at reading how you act, girl.'_

As he raised his blade above her, suddenly he was hit in the face by something.

 _'What the_ -'

What the fuck _was_ that?

Why did his skin look like it had prematurely aged?

It was then that he saw that her body was glowing.

Was she using some kind of power?

"This is Toto's specialty: her magoi ability!"

Magoi...wait a minute.

 _Wait a fucking minute._

He stopped, glancing at his sword, then at her. He'd been told not to use his own powers, and yet here she was freely using her own? What happened to an honest match? This was disgusting, and even he, a sociopath, was offended.

Not only did she not give a damn about hurting him, (which he took offense with), but she didn't care about following her own damned morals. At least stick to your morals.

"This is the end of you!" She growled, moving forward with her blade.

He didn't move. He simply stood there.

"Move, you idiot!" She growled, aiming her blade close to his face.

He calmly ducked his head away, then aimed his blade up casually in front of him, as though this were no big deal. "No. I won't."

"Fight me!" She growled.

He paused before saying simply, "I forfeit. This match _isn't_ fair or honorable."

The crowd went silent, stunned.

"W-What the hell?" Toto cried.

"I expected a simple sword fight when he told us to use **only** our swords. Yet here you are, using your own magoi to attack me instead of your own sword fighting skills. That's cheating, isn't it?" He pointed out.

"Toto can do what she wants, it's her place." A voice said.

More boos were heard from the audience.

So they didn't like him. That's all right, he'll just have to make them respect him.

"All right then, I see how it is. If there's no honor in a true battle, then I refuse to fight it. I'm leaving now, bye." He said flippantly, as he turned to walk away.

The old man looked stunned. "But you can't just leave!"

"Get back here, you coward!" Toto screamed.

That did it.

Every ounce of self-control he had snapped, and in its place was boiling, blazing, ice-cold rage. Nobody... _nobody_ called him a coward.

He stopped, and that was before he sensed her presence, charging at him, trying to punch him. Too bad, he wasn't going to let her get away with her shit that easily. He could pretend to be hit, but he wasn't going to play puppet for these people.

He turned slowly around, and casually put up his own fist, blocking it easily, before his fist grabbed onto her arm in a firm, tight grip. He aimed a cold glare in her direction.

"Attacking someone while his back is turned...that's a cowardly tactic, but then again, everything you've done so far has been cowardly. Cheat in your match, attack me from behind and then try to beat the shit out of me for begging for food. I see what kind of person you are." He said softly.

She looked at him, wide-eyed, before struggling.

"Let go of me, you stupid man! Men like you are all the same! You're just an arrogant, selfish coward! Fight me!" She screamed.

He didn't let go, he just instead firmly pushed her back, avoiding any areas on her body, and instead turned to the audience, who was still booing somewhat, but was otherwise silent.

"I'm done. I don't need to waste my time with people who will try to hit me and be dishonest. I came here hoping to find some decent fighters, but instead I find a coward and true cheater. _Scum."_ He said, casually walking away.

"Young man, Toto is not scum! If you really want to prove your worth, fight her."

Right, fight a woman, but if you _do_ fight her, you're a chickenshit abuser. Some fucking logic right there.

Kida turned around, an icy look on his face. "Make it a plain fist fight."

Toto gasped, "You're on, you arrogant asshole! I'll wipe that smile off your face!"

He wasn't smiling-he was smirking. It was a cold, calculating smirk.

He just stood there, receiving a punch to the shoulder. He was expecting that.

He backed away from her before noticing the straps to her armor. He could...no, he couldn't do that. That was low and not for him. He stopped, and smiled thinly before punching her in the lower jaw.

Toto was startled and backed away. "W-What, that didn't even hurt at all!"

He sighed. "You're a woman, you're also my opponent. I can't hurt a woman even if she is my opponent. That's just not gentlemanly." He shrugged.

That drew some cheers from the crowd.

"Am I in?" He asked, turning to the old man.

The old man studied him from head to toe. "Fine. You can join, Mr. Alibaba."

"Great." He said, shooting a cold stare at Toto as he walked away, to his new quarters.

This was lovely. He was with people that hated his very existence. What was next, they sacrificed him to some giant animal? Nah, they weren't _that_ crazy. But wait...didn't gladiators fight animals?

The door banged open a short while later and the witch came back.

"Hey, you! You cheated! Why didn't you hurt me? That barely hurt at all! Are you a coward?"

"No," He said quietly, "I was ensuring you would not be hurt. Women are weaker than men are physically, so one punch in the wrong spot and you could be permanently hurt. It sounds sexist, I know, but seriously, I really don't like you. Just leave me alone, please." He said softly.

"Toto...Toto is sorry!" She said, in a mock sort of way.

"Oh, really?" Kida said, turning around to study her, with a skeptical grin on his face. "I suppose sorry _excuses_ your poor-ass treatment of me." He said grimly.

She winced. "What is your problem? You come in here, act entitled, and act like you're better than everyone else-"

He did not think that. Though he was selfish and self-consumed, he actually had a lack of confidence in himself.

He gritted his teeth together.

"Well! Talk to me!"

He slammed his book shut, a sound that echoed throughout the room, and turned around to face her, a calm smile on his face. "Look," He said, his voice icy and filled with anger, "I don't give a **flying fuck** what _you_ think. I haven't since you tried to kill me, and then you're angry with me for _defending_ myself against you? You're also angry with me for trying not to fight and beat up a woman, because doing that _always_ ends well for a guy like me. I took it easy on you and didn't even hurt you at all. Yet, you're complaining about me being angry about being beaten up. I have _every_ right to be angry at you. You're a giant hypocrite and you need to learn beating others up is not the answer to things. How would you feel if that were done to you? I don't think you'd appreciate being told to stop being angry, right?"

Toto gasped, and nodded mutely, looking a little guilty. "I-"

She backed away.

"That is why, I'm asking you now, to _shut_ your fucking condescending mouth, Toto, until I hear a true and genuine apology from your lips. I have no interest in speaking to someone who calls me a coward and a liar. Just go away for now." He said assertively.

She blinked, and seemed very frustrated."Alibaba...I'm sorry! Don't throw me out now."

"I need time alone!" He snapped.

She walked out of the room, but not before smashing the lamp in the room with her bare hands.

"That was a pain in the ass." He complained.

Was it really worth coming here?

He thought about it, decided fuck it, and instead rolled over and went to sleep.

He _did_ expect months of backbreaking training. He got that, but much to their surprise, he came out a lot better than they expected, although there were many times he got clobbered. Usually with sword training, he was much weaker with that than with his fists.

Toto kept trying to reach out to him for some fucking reason, but he kept pushing her aside, citing anything, any possible excuse to make her leave him alone. Any woman who fucking hit him was gone. Goodbye. There had been no reason for her to treat him like that.

He only wished Saki could be here. Saki would've slapped her and chewed her out in that cold, cool way of hers. Saki was scary when she was angry.

He knew she'd let herself get caught on purpose...but surely she hadn't wished for him to die.

He knew that much. She had been a pawn, as he had, in Izaya's schemes.

Still, she was a much better girl than this one, that was for sure.

He'd take Kougyoku over this girl. Oh, if Kougyoku had witnessed that, she would have taken her sword out and washed her away with Vinea. Or Morgiana would have destroyed the entire stadium with her legs.

Come to think of it, there'd been no word from his supposed friend from the Kou Empire. She probably didn't even know he was here. Oh well, he needed someone to complain to, he supposed, so he took out his scroll and started writing a note to her, before also writing one to Aladdin, and sending it. Besides, she was nice enough, she would support him no matter what. Those kinds of companions were hard to find. Though he was using her without any remorse, he did miss seeing a friendly face.

She wasn't a bad girl, compared to Toto.

He'd never imagined he'd meet a girl as violent and cruel as his mother. It pissed him off.

Unlike his persona, no one fucked with Kida Masaomi. Everyone in his gang knew better than to piss him off. Little though he might have been, he could and would kick your ass if you messed with him. He was a little kid with a lot of pent-up rage...that manifested itself in the worst possible way. When he smiled, that was an indication that he would erupt like a volcano. He stored up all his anger and remained dormant...and then the volcano erupted, destroying everything in its path...in an icy, cold way.

His anger was not boiling rage, it was the worst kind, the icy, cold kind. It was a trait unique to sociopaths. Find the one thing they're weak at, and exploit it, then they'll utterly set their sights on destroying you in the worst way possible.

That was when he turned over, causing his cell phone to fall out of its holding place on his pocket. Only it was suddenly crackling...like it was on. What the fuck.

He swore that thing had died so long ago, yet here it was, crackling and on.

He picked it up quickly, hiding it, surprised but barely able to believe his eyes, as he scanned the messages page. There were a ton of messages to his inbox. The wifi bar, of course, was xed out completely. He was amazed he was even able to use this thing.

Was it...was it the magic screwing around with it?

The inbox held messages from Saki, Izaya...and... _Mikado?_

' _Dear Masaomi, I know you're out there somewhere, I keep on dreaming about you, and you're doing odd things. It's insane, I know. But are you there? You never answer my calls and your apartment went up for sale ages ago, but I kept some of your old stuff. Please message me back.'_

Hope suddenly flooded through his heart. If he was seeing these...perhaps..perhaps he could contact Mikado!

Sending a message just gave him an...ERROR message.

"Fuck." He grumbled, playing with the keys.

That was before he tried something. He tried putting in Mikado's number...he heard the phone ringing...but then static ensued. Just what he needed.

Kida was about to close the crazy phone and forget all about it when a voice he hadn't heard in five fucking years cracked over the line: "...Hello? Who is this?"

He could barely make it out, but it was there.

"Mikado, it's me, Masaomi!" He cried.

The static was still there, but the voice let out a gasp, followed by, "M-Masaomi!?" before the line went dead.

Eyes wide, he stared at the device, which suddenly went dead again, as though it had never worked at all. This should not be happening. Holy shit. Was someone working with magic on some device like a cell phone? If so, that would explain why his device had suddenly started working.

He'd just heard his best friend...er, his boyfriend...(not that he knew about that...) on the other end. He sounded a bit deeper, but he still had that squeaky tone that he knew as Mikado.

He started crying tears of relief, before wondering why he got so emotional over Mikado.

* * *

The door opened at that point and Kida immediately stashed his phone away, but Toto saw.

"What's that you got there?"

"Nothing." He said in annoyance, "Who said you could come in?"

"I heard some odd noises in here. And you talking to yourself." She said.

"I'm slightly crazy!" He chirped. "So what if I am?"

"I was concerned." She said in annoyance.

Still, his heart was pounding faster...and faster, and he immediately blushed. Goddammit...dirty thoughts again. He would deal with those later.

"Why are you blushing?" She asked.

"None of your business." He said through gritted teeth.

Sooner or later, he received a letter back from Aladdin, excitedly talking about his adventures at Magnostadt. Kida couldn't help but think of Harry Potter while reading it, and laughed.

A letter from Kougyoku arrived as well, excitedly asking him how his days were there, and that she'd heard good things about that country, but had never been there. Along with a bunch of blah blah blah things about the weather, about how Judar stole her hairpin, about how she missed Hakuryuu-chan and missed seeing him and Lord Sinbad, but she'd see him soon enough.

He stared at that one before wondering why exactly Morgiana hadn't written him back. Had something happened? He glared before rolling over and falling asleep, still so excited about the idea of Mikado being able to communicate with him.

* * *

Mikado was still in stunned silence.

He'd received a call from a familiar number. The name on the other end said Masaomi Kida. He'd answered, but no one answered, at first, then as Mikado was going to hang up, a voice said his name, in barely audible Japanese, scratchier and deeper than he recalled, but very much Masaomi, "Mikado, it's me, Masaomi!"

Then the line went dead, leaving Mikado fearful for several reasons.

Was he being held hostage? Was he kidnapped? Why had he talked so desperately? Either way, he was so relieved to hear that his friend was alive that he'd cried himself to sleep. There were no more calls from the mysterious number, though various text messages arrived, but were greeted with "corrupted file" when he tried to open them.

Where would he be that phones didn't work?

Some other country that didn't have wifi?

Mikado blinked and pulled up the web on his phone and searched.

No satisfying results, just like he figured.

His phone buzzed at midnight. Blinking in confusion, Mikado looked at his phone. The caller was, once again, Masaomi Kida. Again, the static was there, but a barely whispered voice could be heard saying a series of words Mikado could barely make out.

"...Mikado...I'm...trapped..."

Trapped? He had been kidnapped!

"In...the...past. Dimension..."

That was all he deciphered. The rest was gobbledegook.

"Trapped in the past? What does he mean by that?" Mikado muttered.

'Wait...dimension? Like...like another reality? M-Masaomi's in another reality? That can't be possible!'

He decided to talk to the proper authorities on nonsense about this. Thankfully, they were easily found.

"Um, Karisawa-san...what would I do if a friend has fallen into another dimension?"

Erika looked up, her eyes wide. "Try to contact them, of course! They might try to contact you! Or you can use a time machine to get to them! Anything's possible! Who's this about? Is this a manga?"

"No...look." He showed her the phone messages that were clearly labeled "Masaomi Kida" and her mouth thinned.

"This could be an elaborate practical joke. It's pretty sick to be masquerading as Kida-kun."

"H-He sounded just like Kida...there's no way anyone can replicate him." Mikado begged.

"So you think Masaomi went into another dimension?" Walker said, "That would explain why he just vanished like that. How'd it happen? Black-hole? Magical gate? Door?"

"I don't know, he just left me a message, saying he was trapped in another world." He said, "I knew you guys might believe me."

"Yep, I definitely believe it." Erika said, "Nothing's too impossible. So, if Kida-kun's in another world, we can either wait for him to come back, or else we can get him out ourselves." She searched through piles of manga, and one in particular landed in Walker's hands.

"Hey, I like this one!" He said.

"Doesn't that character look like Kida?" Mikado pointed out.

Erika and Walker stopped, stared at the page, and then their eyes bugged out.

"HOLY SHIT, KIDA'S IN A MANGA UNIVERSE! THAT IS SO COOL!" Erika yelped.

"Guys..." Mikado muttered.

"I wonder if he's using the sword and stuff..." Walker said.

"Keep this among yourselves, okay? Just...just let me know when you can come up with something that will help me find him. I'm just glad he's alive."

"He's out there living a badass life, Mikado. You should join him. You two can go on boyfriend adventures."

" _B-B-Boyfriend?"_ Mikado cried.

"He always did walk around and talk about you with a blush on his face." Walker said, "He was so cute, too."

"Yeah, it was all like did you see what Mikado did today? Mikado is amazing! He had the biggest crush on you!" Erika chirped.

Mikado's eyes were wide and his face reddened significantly. "R-really?"

"Oh yeah, he probably is dialing you to tell you he loves you or something! Either that or else he wants to leave that world." Erika said matter of factly.

Mikado left, a bit frazzled by those words.

 _'Masaomi's in another dimension...in a manga world? Yeah, right. But that would explain those odd dreams...but him, being in love with me? That's the only part I can't believe.'_

He rolled over, staring at the ceiling. "Masaomi...come back soon."


	14. Chapter 14 Breaking Point

**A/N:Whoa, it's been a week or two since I last updated, but it's time for me to work on the next part of this fanfic. We'll be seeing Alibaba reach his breaking point in this chapter, some appearances of Kougyoku, Aladdin and Mikado. I'm glad you all enjoyed Kida owning Toto. It was one of my favorite chapters to write ever.**

 **:D**

 **""I can fake a smile. I can force a laugh. I can dance and play the part of that's what you ask. Give you all I am. But I am only human. I bleed when I fall down. I'm only human I crash and I break down. Your words in my head. Knives in my heart. You build me up and then I fall apart."**

― **Christina Perri** **, www dot goodreads dot com slash quotes slash tag breaking**

* * *

 **Chapter 14 The breaking Point**

The more time Kida spent here, in Reim, the more he was convinced that coming here had been the biggest mistake of his life. That is, until he recalled a very amusing incident that had taken place shortly before he'd arrived here, when he'd been stuck on the boat to this Reim place, seasick and miserable as hell thanks to his fear of water. Some clueless dumbass had found it already to attempt to assault him.

Attempt.

 _"Water...so gross." He whined, as he lay on the floor of his room, sweating hysterically. He did not like water._

 _There was a knock on his door. Instantly, he feigned death._

 _The person crept towards him, stealthily, slowly, before they picked him up by his shirt collar and started trying to get at his bag._

 _Kida lifted his head up, in time to show the most cheerful grin possible on his face. "Hello."_

 _The thief let out a gasp, but just in time for Kida to punch them straight in the jaw, sending him flying backward into the wall, letting out a moan of pain, as the teen darted toward him with inhuman reflexes._

 _Kida cracked his fists together, sitting in front of the man, smiling widely, a threatening aura burning around him. "So, you think you can just waltz in here and steal my clothing, huh? Answer me when I speak to you, please." His voice and tone resembled that of Shizuo at the moment._

 _The thief gasped and started to back away, but Kida placed a strong hand on his shoulder and his grip tightened._

 _"Uh-uh, you aren't going anywhere, not until you answer me with a yes or no question. Why were you intent on stealing my money and my clothing? Are you intent on leaving me as a nudist, or are you just a general sick fuck with no sense of human compassion? Guess what, you chose the wrong person to rob. You know who you got?"_

 _The man shook and shuddered. "...A whiny kid?" He guessed._

 _"You got a person who doesn't feel sorry for anything he does, that's who. You messed with the wrong guy. I could kill you in a millisecond, and not feel bad. Do you want to taste death, or would you rather just apologize now and pray I never see your face again?" He said sweetly, taking his blade out, the metal glinting in the moonlight._

 _Now, time to begin his insane theatrics._

 _"Very, very sorry, sir! I didn't mean to m-m-mess with you, sir! P-P-Please don't kill me! Please!"_

 _"Please, hm?" Kida said, holding the man upside down in the air as he struggled, the blade right up against his throat._

 _"Please, let me go! I swear, I'll never take your things again!"_

 _"That's much better. Now, in return, get the flying fuck out of my room and never bother me again. Got it?" He said in a serious tone, cracking his fists together, giving him the coldest glare possible._

 _The man shuddered. "Y-Y-Yes, sir! Absolutely sorry to bother you, sir!" And like that, he sped out of the room, probably pissing his pants in the process._

 _Kida let out a sigh of relief, flopping back down on his bed and was awake the rest of the night._

 _"Gee, it's times like this I'm glad I'm a sociopath." He chirped. "People have to be dumb to rob me."_

* * *

"What are you doing, spacing out, you idiot?" Toto cried at him.

He stuck his tongue out at her, which caused her to fume angrily at him.

"Toto doesn't know why you're still here when you're such an arrogant brat!"

"Now, now, treat him with respect now." The master said to the brat.

"I don't like him!" She growled.

"I don't like you." He said cheerfully. "You're one nasty girl."

"You little!" She growled, "You just wait til they feed you to Garda!"

"Say what?" He said cheerfully.

"You're gonna have to fight a beast." The master informed him.

Well, he was fucked.

"I'm outta here." He said, waving casually at them, "Call me when the joke's over."

"It's no joke, you will be fighting the beast in the coliseum soon." The master said seriously.

Were they fucking serious?

This was the stupidest country he'd ever been to in his whole goddamned life. Well, the food wasn't bad, the roast bird was all right, though their other meats weren't bad and their cherries were to die for. Seriously, the sweet cherries here were delicious.

That was the only reason he was staying was for the cherries.

He blinked upon feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket. Oh shit.

Was that magic shit working again?

"What's wrong?" The master asked.

"Nothing." Kida lied, going into his room and flipping open the phone.

There was a new message from Mikado, it read, ' _Dear Masaomi, are you trapped inside a manga? Erika and Walker think that, but I think they're nuts. If you're there, please, text me back.'_

He typed back, ' _Yeah, it's me. Somehow, we're communicating. It feels so good to communicate with you again, Mikado. I'm trapped in a crazy-ass world full of monsters, beasts and people who want me dead. I'm surviving.'_ He messaged back.

Static answered him, but he swore it was sent before another message appeared, bewildering the teen further.

 _"Good luck, Masaomi. I'm so glad you're alive...'_

"What are you doing?" Toto cried, slamming open the door, but Kida had already put away the phone.

"Nothing." He said, turning it off.

He changed into his clothes, but kept his phone near him. Couldn't have people snooping in his room, after all.

"Good luck." Toto said, which surprised him.

He turned to look at her.

"Thought you didn't like me." He said smugly.

She fumed. "You're a jerk, but you've got talent. Don't die."

"Hang on-" He cried, but she was gone.

Fuck this.

He went out to the coliseum, staring in disinterest.

Could he just leave already?

"The competitor will try to survive Garda! Let's hear it for Garda!"

"Garda!" The crowd cheered as a giant beast appeared.

You've gotta be fucking kidding me.

Does he _have_ to be David taking down Goliath here?

His eyebrow twitched.

"You may not use your djinn equip powers."

Just for that, Kida flipped the announcer off, a gesture that was lost on him and stood there, looking stupid.

"Start already." He said flatly.

"If you're ready...then let's go."

The fight was boring, he just fought back with his sword, but they gave him such a puny blade, it didn't really do much of anything against this stupid-ass beast.

He wondered why he was doing this to begin with.

He was bored.

* * *

Then that's when the beast grabbed onto his arm and started biting at his shirt, trying to rip his arm off.

He reacted. "Let go." He warned.

The beast did not react, instead, it continued biting at him.

He had genuine respect for animals, but animals that crossed the line and caused personal injury to him got what was coming to them.

He looked to the crowd, wondering if they would stop it from happening.

"KILL HIM, GARDA!"

"YOU GO, GIRL! RIP HIM APART!"

"KILL HIM, KILL HIM!"

His eyes widened and his fist tightened. Ah, so that was how it was going to be, hm? They were going to just let him die for no reason other than to satisfy their own egos? Ah, well, now they asked for it.

"Put me down." He growled, but the beast did not listen and instead clamped her teeth down harder on his arm.

' **Want me to kill it?** ' Dark growled, pissed off as well.

 _'I'll need to borrow your powers.._.' Alibaba said sharply.

Alibaba, no, Kida, glared at the crowd before standing back up, but feeling pain in his arm, fell back down.

'I'm gonna die here...' He thought. 'Chewed up by a stupid beast.'

Then, he felt it, the familiar throbbing, the familiar pounding, as it happened, as the dark rukh banded about his arm, healing it.

He envisioned Mikado, and stood back up, glaring at the beast.

 _'If they want a bloody, vicious, murdering psychopath, they're going to get one. You've pushed me over the edge. There's no mercy now._ '

They'd done enough to him that now the thread of his sanity had just been snapped.

They'd insulted him, tried to beat him up, tried to kill him. Now they were content to let a beast chew him to pieces. Well, he'd be damned if he'd let that happen. No one but him controlled his destiny and he refused to die in such a stupid way.

So now, nothing filled him but cold, icy fury, pouring out of him as the frozen volcano of his anger inside erupted.

He spoke in a calm, icy tone, staring into Garda's eyes. "Let go. _Right now_."

The beast didn't react, instead sinking her teeth in further.

His right arm still hurt, but Dark's rukh was lessening it, he thought, sighing as he instead went for his blade.

"...Fine then, I'll _give_ you **true** pain, you monster." He pronounced each word in the same cold, calm, and deadly tone, before he immediately aimed his blade...and pushed it into the beast, without any emotion whatsoever.

The beast let out a howl of pain. In all actuality, the wound was relatively light. He'd missed any fatal areas, but even so, smirking, he brought the blade back across the beast's chest again, causing blood to spill out.

"What's wrong? Does it hurt?" He taunted, "Well, _you_ hurt _me,_ so a fox has to strike back when the hunter wants to drive it out so the hounds can rip it apart, right? You forgot, us foxes have fangs. _Taste my fangs."_

"Alibaba?" Toto cried, alarmed. How had he been able to move so quickly?

The beast howled in pain before clamping down harder.

"You asked for it." He said icily before lazily running the blade along the same wound again, slowly causing more pain to no doubt hit the beast. "The more you bite me, the more I'll run my blade along your wound. Capiche? Why don't you let me go now?"

The beast was howling, whimpering in pain, but Kida tilted his head in confusion, wondering why it was making that noise. After all, it'd hurt him, so it deserved it, right?

"Oh, come on, the injury's not that bad." He said lightly, laughing as he did so, like it was a joke.

Toto watched, wide-eyed, as Alibaba practically was playing with Garda...by running his blade along her open wound, over and over. The more she would bite, the more he would stab. His relaxed demeanor disturbed her. Why was he so nonchalant? He was hurting Garda!

Then she heard Garda howling and whimpering in pain. She was hurting. Tears filled Toto's eyes. "Alibaba, stop! You're hurting her!"

"HOW DARE HE HURT GARDA!" The crowd was outraged.

"Call her off," He said calmly. " _You're_ the ones who put me in this situation and now you don't want me to get rough? Isn't that how the game works?"

Toto flinched. He was right, but even so...

"Finish him, Garda!"

But Garda was too terrified to do anything, letting go of the young man, she backed away, shaking viciously. That hurt! It hurt, it hurt! Whatever the human had done, she had played with her food but then it had struck back and it hurt! She tried to pull the thing out of her, but the human shook his head.

"Don't. Don't pull that out. You'll die if you extract it. Keep it there and you'll be alive." He said softly, there was a gentler tone to his voice now. "I did that because I had to. You would've killed me."

Despite that, she smelled no fear on him, no regret. She wondered why the human wasn't smelling like a regular human. Why wasn't he sad after doing such a thing?

He gave off an aura she did not like.

She was scared of him. Scared, scared, _scared._

"It's not your fault, you know. You don't know anything different. You're just bred to be their attack dog. You're brainwashed, like I was...but even so, this fight is over." Kida glared up at the others.

"Alibaba Saluja wins." The master announced.

"He cheated! He hurt Garda!" People shouted.

* * *

"You guys demanded that I do this. I didn't agree to nearly be murdered by a creature you guys have tricked into thinking it's all right for it to devour live humans. Besides, she's not dead, her wound isn't even that bad."

The master gasped as he took in the wound, which was relatively light. He hadn't fatally stabbed her, instead he'd just inflicted pain on her, pain that would scare her enough to stop fighting him. Was this his form of mercy?

He glanced over at the young man. He'd suspected something was off about the young man...something not right. He seemed normal enough, but his sadism during this battle showed that he...that he didn't have an awareness of others' pain. He'd met a Magi like this before...the one from the Kou Empire.

Hadn't the Lady Magi spoken of him before?

"You're a good fighter, Garda." Kida said.

He turned to glare at the crowd. "As for all of you, you can all go fuck yourselves. I'm leaving."

There was a stunned silence, before the crowd started booing him.

"Coward!"

"Cheater!"

"Alibaba the cheater, Alibaba the cheater!"

* * *

"ENOUGH!" Came a sharp voice.

Everyone looked up in time to see a woman with long, blond hair staring at all of them.

"You are all equally at fault. He did not kill Garda, she is still alive and well. He fought well and bravely for his own life. Was your name Alibaba?" She said, looking at him regally.

Oh, was this woman...

'She's a Magi...' Dark groaned. 'Ugh, I feel sick.'

"I would like to speak to you in private, Alibaba."

Oh...oh shit, had she-had she noticed his rukh?

He knew he shouldn't have-he glanced at his bleeding but otherwise healing arm.

"You didn't get hurt that badly." Toto remarked.

"Uh, what's your name?" He said dumbly to the Magi, who smiled.

"I'm Scheherahazade."

"Right, nice to meet you! I'm Alibaba." He said, but she smiled, before her smile became tense.

"We need to have a serious talk. About some things I noticed."

He gulped before following her.

He was so fucked.

"First, of all, why is your rukh mostly black?" She asked him.

He winced. "How did you-"

"I'm a Magi, I can detect fallen ones, but you're half-fallen. How is that possible?" She asked.

"...Reasons." He muttered.

"Second of all, you reacted oddly to Garda's cries. You didn't notice she was in pain. Why is that?"

He flinched. "I didn't notice, to be honest. I mean, she was trying to hurt me."

"That's correct, and I'm sorry that the people can be like that. But these matches are sport to them, they don't know any better. But you also acted recklessly and cruelly towards Garda, which was uncalled for. You should have stopped as soon as she was crying in pain." Her sharp blue eyes locked onto his golden orbs and he shriveled.

"You're scaring me..." He muttered, "I'm sorry..." He grumbled, even though he really wasn't.

"Also, why is the air around you so different? I've never met a person like you with such an aura...you seem completely alien to this very environment. Are you an alien, Mr. Alibaba?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" He asked.

"Your Rukh is totally foreign to me. It's almost like you came here from another place. Somewhere far away from here."

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shitttttttt.

He was so fucked.

"Now, tell me who you really are and why you're here in my country." She said sharply.

"I'm Alibaba-"

"No, your real name and why you're here." She said sharply, "I want the truth."

He swallowed.

This was going to be a son of a bitch.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Kou Empire, Kougyoku was facing her own tribulations.

"Hey, old hag, who're ya writing to?" Judar taunted.

"No one!" Kougyoku cried, flushing, writing a letter to that Kassim man. He was nice.

"Got a crush, huh?" He said, "To...Kassim? Is he your boyfriend?"

"N-NO, NOW GIVE THAT BACK, JUDAR-CHAN!"

Judar wondered why he was feeling so...so jealous! First she prattled on and on about Sinbad, now this Alibaba person, now this fucking Kassim person, too!

"Is she still going on about that?" Hakuryuu asked, having arrived back home.

"First you get mad at me about being friends with Alibaba-chan, and now this!" She growled, "I'm gonna soak you!"

"You wouldn't dare, old hag!"

Upon seeing a giant wall of water form behind her, Judar teleported away, while Hakuryuu calmed the princess down.

"It's not true, is it...? That you have a crush...you know how Kouen will react." Hakuryuu said, sweating slightly.

"Talking about me?"

Suddenly, Kouen appeared, "I was wondering why Judar came in to bug me, saying something about how Kougyoku has some boy she's crushing on. Who is this boy, Kougyoku?"

Kougyoku suddenly shrank to chibi size and huddled in the corner. "N-N-No one, E-E-En-nii!"

"I must meet with this...Kassim? Isn't that the king of Balbadd? I must meet this _Kassim_ and _make sure_ he is a trustworthy person." He got into his overprotective brother mode, much to everyone else's horror.

"En-nii, please..." Kougyoku whimpered.

"I want what's best for you." Kouen said, his nostrils flaring,"Bring him here to me."

Everyone shuddered at his dark aura.

"Help me, Hakuryuu-chan..." She whimpered.

"I don't know how to stop an evil like his." Hakuryuu whimpered.

"Is he done being scary?" Kouha asked, looking frightened as well.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I am gonna be making this chapter short, since I have somewhere to be tomorrow. I am proud and happy to announce that PIF will be getting another update to it. Thank you, sole reviewer who keeps on reviewing this fic, it is most appreciated!

Pairings: Alimor, Mikida, Kasskou and EnEI (Kouen and Hakuei are just too cute.)

""Masquerades disclose the reality of souls. As long as no one sees who we are, we can tell the most intimate details of our life. I sometimes muse over this sketch of a story about a man afflicted by one of those personal tragedies born of extreme shyness who one day, while wearing a mask I don't know where, told another mask all the most personal, most secret, most unthinkable things that could be told about his tragic and serene life. And since no outward detail would give him away, he having disguised even his voice, and since he didn't take careful note of whoever had listened to him, he could enjoy the ample sensation of knowing that somewhere in the world there was someone who knew him as not even his closest and finest friend did. When he walked down the street he would ask himself if this person, or that one, or that person over there might not be the one to whom he'd once, wearing a mask, told his most private life. Thus would be born in him a new interest in each person, since each person might be his only, unknown confidant."

― Fernando Pessoa

Chapter 15 It's like Magic (Love in the air)

* * *

Kougyoku had never known very much about men, despite growing up alongside many of them, from Judar-chan to her brothers. The only one she'd been in constant contact with was Ka Koubun, who seemed to be constantly trying to set her up with the perfect man, from Sinbad-sama to even Alibaba-chan. Although he seemed to not like Alibaba-chan very much, much to Kougyoku's bewilderment, who insisted he was a perfect gentleman.

"That's what he wants you to think, Himegimi! He is using you! And you must simply stop writing to the King of Balbadd, he is a mere commoner!" He yelled, even more annoyed that his retainer wasn't even going for someone who was royal, but someone who was adopted.

How was she supposed to get farther along in life and not be in her brothers' shadows now? The Balbadd king didn't hold much power yet or respect, though he showed a good amount of knowledge and dealings with ordinary citizens, which could be beneficial, if used a certain way. However, he didn't trust the man, he just didn't like him.

But he did not like this Alibaba fellow. The boy screamed, 'deceitful'. Oh, he'd seen the looks the boy had cast at his himegimi, when she wasn't looking. He'd roll his eyes or look sarcastic, like he didn't want to be there. He didn't know why he was such a rude brat, but he hoped that one day she would see past the facade and realize that he was just using her.

There was something...deceitful about him. He didn't know why, but the second he'd met him and seen his smile, something about the boy screamed hollow to Ka Koubun. Oddly, it was the same aura Sinbad gave him. The two were awfully alike, not trustworthy candidates for his princess, he thought, glancing over at her, noticing her eyes sparkling as she read over a letter from "Alibaba-chan."

"Alibaba-chan dueled a beast and won!" She chirped, "And...And Kassim-san has invited me over to his palace! He wants me to stay there and discuss an alliance!"

What.

WHAT.

In that instant, Ka Koubun's reality fell to pieces.

"He...he did _what_?" He stammered.

The princess was still smiling widely, unaware of what she'd said wrong. "What? All I said was is that Kassim-san wants me to come over to his palace! He's friendly and kind! I don't see what's so bad about that-"

"Your highness, you must not! Your brother does not approve of King Kassim!" He hissed.

"I don't care what En-nii thinks, I'm going to see him, anyway. He's a friend of Alibaba-chan's, after all." She said, as if Alibaba-chan were her utter savior or something, oh dear god.

The poor princess had been ensnared by this Kassim. He must save her from his wickedness.

She must be able to marry a royal and move up in rank!

Not a mere commoner.

Ka Koubun spent some time thinking...and thinking.

That is, until Kouen decided for him.

"You may go see this Kassim. I wish to meet him and see him in person for myself, however, so do please invite him over here to discuss trade deals with us."

Ka Koubun was flabbergasted.

"Thank you so much, En-nii! He's such a good person, I'm sure you'll like him!"

"Is this your crush or something, Kougyoku?" Kouha purred, draping his arms around his sister teasingly. "Kougyoku and Kassim, sitting in a tree...K-I-S-S-"

"Kouha, don't tease your sister." Kouen muttered.

"What? Everyone knows who you like, and she's right over there-" Kouha began, but Kougyoku placed her hand on over his mouth, as Hakuei Ren approached, seemingly oblivious to the reddened face of Kouen as he tried hard not to look at her.

"Is something wrong, brother?" She asked politely.

"N-Nothing. I might just be catching a cold, that's all." He said softly.

Kougyoku giggled as she left the room, leaving a jealous Kouha behind.

"She's got a boyfriend!"

" _Who's_ got a boyfriend?" Judar asked.

"Kougyoku. She's going on and on about that Kassim guy. What's so great about him?"

"That's what _I'd_ like to know!" Judar cried, then stopped, realizing what he'd said and backtracked. "I...I mean, who would like an old hag like that, anyway? Definitely not me! Nope, never!"

"Someone's jealous?" Kouha asked.

He got a peach core lobbed at him by Judar.

"Go away!" Then Judar teleported away in anger.

"Geez, why is everyone falling for my sister?" He asked.

* * *

Kassim smiled as he read over the letter Kida had sent him. He had nearly gotten his arm bitten off by a dungeon beast, but had fought the beast off with seemingly no issues, and managed to ensnare not just that cute red-haired chick but also a black-haired girl who hated him.

Typical of him.

"Kida...you're always breaking women's hearts...sometimes I wish you were more of a loser." He muttered.

To be honest, he'd written back to him confessing that he had someone on his mind, but was unsure of how to say that he liked her.

 _'I mean...she's a royal and a princess. I hate all royals!'_

But one mental image of her bright pink eyes had Kassim hacking on his cigarette.

"I must be getting sick or something. The day I fall for a royal is the day the world ends."

It was then that he remembered that he was the king and cursed his luck.

"I wonder what Kida's doing at this moment..."

* * *

Meanwhile, at one of the meeting places in a more...lewd spot of town, Kida was having some rather...intimate meetings with a woman. Don't even ask how he finds such places. He knows a lot of weird people.

"Oh, Prince Alibaba, you're a _mazing_." She cooed, kissing him.

Nothing quite like casual sex.

When you're a sociopath, charisma gets you into a lot of strange situations, and this was no different.

"So, who's the dream woman you like, Prince Alibaba?" She cooed.

"A girl who's strong and pretty..." He muttered, "Like the one in front of me, who is an utter angel sent down from heaven to ravish me with her apple of sin. Shall I partake?"

"Sure..." She said.

The next day, Kida woke up, happy but also with a pounding headache. He'd gotten drunk again and forgotten about what he did last night. At least, until he glanced back and saw the woman lying next to him.

He paid her for her services and left, wishing her a good day, leaving her blushing from head to toe.

Kida Masaomi never fails to be a gentleman.

"He was so charming!" She cooed.

"Those are the bad ones." Another girl said.

Kida yawned and stretched, figuring he'd get something to eat. As he sat down and ate some food, he noticed Toto coming towards him. "The bitch is here..." He muttered, turning away from her as he ate his food.

"Hey, uh...what did you and Lady Scheherahazade talk about?" She asked.

He flinched. "Not your concern. She asked to keep it private."

Basically, the old lady was terrifying and somehow knew he was not just half-fallen, but also from another world. Why were all the white magi so terrifying?

 _' **I wish I knew, I only wish I knew..**._ ' Dark said in his head, **' _However, what would Mikado think of you cheating?'_**

' _Who says I'm cheating? I merely need to exercise sometimes.'_ He said to himself, busy finishing off some cherries that had been left out there-er, cherries he'd stolen.

"Did you steal those?" Toto asked.

Baba spat a pit in her direction. "Fruit is fruit. Who cares? Have some."

He threw a cherry in her direction.

She chewed on it. "It's not bad. But it's awfully sweet. How do you stomach that?"

"I have a sweet tooth! And my tongue's all red!" He cried, sticking his tongue out.

"You're so strange. One second you're stupid, the next second you're smart. I don't understand why other people don't notice that you're full of shit."

"People only see what they want to see. You are an example as well." He said, slurping his watered down alcohol before tossing it aside.

"What the hell is his problem?" She grumbled.


	16. Chapter 16 Mediums appear

_here's the next chapter!_

 _Contains some Kisaki/and Mikida of course._

 _Also, RIP to Chester Bennington and also RIP to all those who died in 9/11._

 _My arms have gotten much better but this infernal heat needs to fuck off, it's fucking september not june you dumb shit weather. Go away._

 _Toto is sort of the butt monkey of this fic so far but she will get better as time goes on. Kida is just a dick._

Chapter 16: New faces and new places

A young girl sat, alone in a hospital room, gazing out forlornly at the world around her.

Time went on and yet for her, it seemed to stand completely still.

Anyone who did not know her well and glanced at her might think that she was completely happy, but that was not the truth.

For two years, she had been silently suffering due to the loss of a certain someone she loved with all her heart.

Because this girl had lost her boyfriend, Masaomi Kida.

It had been forever. He'd disappeared, according to Izaya-sama.

But, she suspected him of having something to do with his disappearance, as he'd made a lot of sarcastic remarks about the boy. Some of her faith in Izaya-sama had ebbed. What could she do? All she had were vague suspicions, and you can't act out on suspicions. All she had to go on were his smug remarks about Masaomi.

She wasn't sure she had complete loyalty to him anymore, but even so, what could she do? He was the only person who came to visit her besides Kadota-san and Erika and Walker-san. For some reason, they kept smiling at her lately. Saki couldn't seem to figure out why.

That is, until one day, an unfamiliar person turned up in her room.

"Who are you?" She asked, staring at the black-haired teenager, who shook.

"I'm Mikado Ryuugamine. I'm Kida-kun's childhood friend."

"Oh yeah, he talked about you. So that's what you look like. I'm Saki Mikajima, his girlfriend. Nice to meet you." They shook hands.

"Um, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry about Kida-kun. I know you must have been upset over it-"

"Upset? I was devastated. I miss him every day. Do you?"

"Yeah, I miss him, too. But I just wanted...to tell you something. I know this might sound...unbelievable, but...I need you to listen to me."

"What?" she said, looking at him curiously.

"Masaomi's not dead."

At this, she looked at him in disbelief. "You have to be joking. There's been no sign of him!"

"No, he's alive, I've talked to him!" He insisted.

"This is just some sick joke, right?" She said, tears blurring her vision.

"No!" Mikado cried, he held out his cell phone and displayed recent messages, one of which was titled: Masaomi Kida.

"This was from a couple days ago!" He cried, "From Masaomi."

Tears came down her face. "He's alive...? Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Where is he? I want to see him." She demanded, her face ironically, like that girl that Kida-kun kept talking about, the red-headed girl. Even though he didn't know her, Kida had spent a long time talking about her. Her name was Morgiana, he thought. It was odd, though, how Kida-kun kept on...flirting with him? He didn't know how to respond to that.

"No, he's not in Japan. You see, I only got in contact with him a couple weeks ago. But, I know it sounds weird, but you need to listen. It's just a very complicated situation."

"Did someone kidnap him?"

"No, he's okay, but a lot of unbelievable stuff has happened, so uh..."

"Like what?" She demanded.

"Promise me that you won't tell Izaya any of this." He insisted.

"I won't-just tell me where he is." She demanded again.

"Um..." He threw a manga onto the bed.

Saki picked it up and looked at it. "What is this, a manga?"

"Yeah, Karisawa-san gave it to me."

"You're into manga?"

"Yeah, anyway, um...that's a manga, yeah. Basically, whenever I talked to him, his voice was really staticky due to bad reception and he said he couldn't stick around long."

"Why?"

"Well, you see...um, apparently something unbelievable happened to him. You know that incident where Izaya nearly killed him, right?"

"Yeah...what of it?" Saki asked.

"From what he told me, he woke up in another country."

"That's impossible." She said.

Mikado laughed, "I know, he said as much himself. But apparently, he figured out that he traveled to another dimension, actually. I'm serious, he's been living in another dimension ever since, trying to figure out how to return to us. But um, he's gone through a lot, and he's gotten older and stuff. I'm sure he's willing to talk to you and stuff, but I can't really keep in contact because something interferes with it. I've been talking to Karisawa about it."

"Are you serious?" She asked again.

"Yeah, look at the person on the cover." He said, pointing at the figure of Alibaba Saluja on the cover of the manga.

She stared at it before turning back to look at him. "You mean...he's stuck in a manga?"

"Basically. I couldn't believe it myself."

"No wonder Izaya-san couldn't find him. I'm glad he's okay, but what is he doing there?"

"He told me he's fighting people, and befriended some strange people. He's found another girl he likes, and uh he has a crush on me."

Saki laughed. "I always knew he was bisexual."

"He is?" Mikado asked.

"Yeah, he told me before that he had a lot of admiration for you, but I guess it's evolved, huh? Could I speak to him?"

"Um, I'm not sure. I only know that he calls whenever he can-"

* * *

Suddenly the phone vibrated.

There was a text from Kida. It asked if he had figured out a way to take him back yet, or come see him, and something about a girl who tried to kick his ass and he owned her.

"What does it say?" Saki asked.

"Basically he got attacked by some random girl who tried to attack him for no reason-"

An angry look appeared on Saki's face. "Are you kidding me? I'll kick her ass!"

"No, Kida-kun threw her off, so..."

"I still love him, you know." She said.

Suddenly the phone was ringing.

"Hello, Masaomi?" Mikado cried.

A familiar voice crackled over the other end. Saki knew that voice anywhere.

He sounded older and his voice deeper, but it was still him.

"How come-"

"Time differences." Mikado whispered.

"I hear you talking about me~" The voice chirped.

"Please, let me talk to him." Saki begged.

"Okay." Mikado handed the phone over to her.

"Masaomi, is that you?" She cried.

There was a pause on the other end. "S-Saki? Is that you I hear? I never thought I'd hear your voice again."

"Neither did I. I'm so glad...you're alive. Will you ever be able to come back here?"

"That's what I wanna know. There are some magical people here who might be able to help me, but I don't know yet. However long I stay here, I do want to come back. I just have some things to do first."

"Do you still love me?"

"Yeah...as friends. There's a new girl I have, her name is Morgiana, you should meet her, she's really, really nice. She's very strong, too. I'm sure she'd be good friends with you. Then there's Aladdin, Kougyoku, Judar, and Hakuryuu..." He trailed off, blabbing about his adventures while she listened.

"I really miss you, Masaomi. But it sounds like you're having fun." She sniffed.

"I wish I could see you, but there's no Internet here. I think it's just magic that just lets me talk to you."

"Like Harry Potter magic?" she snarked.

"No, not quite."

"Tell this other girl that I'll kick her ass." Saki said sharply.

Kida laughed. "I'll tell her that."

"What have you been doing?" Mikado asked.

"There's an upcoming war going on, I met a creepy old lady who got the truth out of me, and there's some other crazy shit going on, but other than that, I'm doing well."

"Um, I'd like to meet your friends." Mikado and Saki both said.

"You can. Oh shit, she's coming in the room! I gotta hang up, sorry. I'll talk to you guys later."

"Bye, Masaomi." Both of them said as the line went dead.

Saki had happy tears coming down her face as she hugged Mikado.

"Thank you so much!" she cried.

"My, my, what do we have here? You been talking to someone?"

Both Saki and Mikado jumped.

"We're just talking to Karisawa-san and Yumasaki-san on the phone!" Mikado made a quick lie.

Izaya spied the manga on the bed. "Ah, he did like manga a little bit." He chirped, "You two hiding anything?"

"No." Saki said.

That wasn't enough for Izaya, though.

"Or perhaps..." He said, snatching Mikado's phone from him, "Aha, just as I figured, Kida-kun is indeed alive. Are you hiding him from me?" He stared at him in interest.

"No, he's far away from you and he's not coming back until he wants to!" Mikado cried.

"I always knew he was a coward."

"Don't call him a coward!" Saki snapped.

"Do tell him to come see me again." Izaya purred.

"Damn him! He's always trying to figure out stuff. He's so dirty."

"Thank you so much. I won't tell anyone, I promise." Saki said.

"I know you won't, you're a good person."

"Um, can I have your phone number?"

"Sure." Mikado said, exchanging numbers with her. "He's pretty busy most of the time."

Then Mikado left the hospital.

It was then that he ran into Karisawa and her friend.

"Did you get to meet him?" She cried excitedly.

"Yeah...I did."

"So it works, huh? Have you figured out anything yet?" Erika said.

"No, not yet. But if you could figure something out, that'd be nice."

"You know what? If I remember correctly, the Black Rider has a lover who's a scientist, maybe he could help!" She suggested.

"Thank you so much! But Masaomi, I wish you could send me photos of your friends." Mikado said grumpily to himself. "Still, I'm so jealous, he gets to fight monsters."

He picked up the book and continued reading where he'd left off.

This volume showed Masaomi trying to get food, only to be swung around and attacked by a girl. But it also showed him being sarcastic and making her life miserable.

"Is it just me or did the volume change? Maybe it changes based on his actions!" Mikado deduced. "That's interesting. Maybe there's magic here."

As he fell asleep, he had a happy smile on his face.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Toto demanded. "I heard you talking to someone."

"Nobody at all!" Kida cried, stowing away his phone.

Toto grabbed it from him and tried pushing a button but nothing happened. "So you're carrying around a useless object?"

"Basically." He said.

"You're such a weird boy."

"You're such a weird girl."

She tried punching him but he easily turned his head and danced out of the way.

"You need to learn to not be so abusive."

"How am I abusive?"

"You need to stop hitting boys who did nothing to you." He pointed out.

"You're such a jerk." She snapped.

"Now, now, no need for all this fighting. And by the way, Magnostadt wants to fight us." The old dude said.

"Why do they want to fight us?" Kida asked.

"I don't know why, but we're going." He said, "I'd like you to go to the front line for now."

"Sure, I'll do that." He thought of Mikado and his fists tightened.

Unfortunately, he had to go by boat, so he spent the first couple days seasick.

' **It's amazing you were able to connect with them**.' Dark muttered.

'Yeah, I know you've been silent a lot, Dark.' He muttered back.

' ** _Could I send you back there is what I've been thinking about._** ' Dark said in response, ' **I'm not sure that that Aladdin kid knows how to use his powers yet. Dimensional traveling was dangerous. You were lucky I was there to save you.'**

'Back when you were a teeny tiny orb! This tiny!' Kida mocked.

 **' _Shut up.'_** Dark said.

"That'd be nice." Alibaba wondered as he was on the ship.

Suddenly, the people in the boat pointed at the sky.

There was what looked like energy in the air and rukh.

He could see it.

Sure enough, he was in time for the battle.

"Shit," He muttered, looking at his sword.

Time to use the old man.

He tried equipping. Nothing happened.

He glared at the sword.

"Come on, you stupid old man! cooperate with me, dammit!"

Finally, he got the old man to cooperate after Dark ensnared him in dark rukh and made several threatening remarks in his own native language. Whatever they were, Dark would not say, but Amon came out shaken and pale, muttering that he did not want to die so young and gave in.

He could see the magicians fighting each other.

"This isn't right."

Why did he even care?

He could see Myron and Muu fight.

He saw Scheherahazade intervening, but she was blown back by her own magic.

Suddenly, a figure was in the air. It was Aladdin.

His forehead was glowing in an odd way.

"No more fighting!" He cried.

"It's another Magi!" Muu exclaimed.

Suddenly the Kou Empire appeared, but before he knew it, Kouen Ren had picked up Aladdin and was throttling him.

"Who are you? What do you know about other worlds? How are you a Magi?"

Suddenly a figure flew in front of him and grabbed Aladdin from him quickly.

"Take your hands off him, you pedophile!" He cried.

"Who did that?" Kouen demanded.

It was then that Kida appeared, glaring up at him.

"Alibaba-kun?" Aladdin stammered.

"I've missed you too, kid." He said, patting him on the head before setting him down on the ground, "You were about to strangle a kid. Chill."

"Who the hell are you?" Kouen demanded.

"Why are you here?" He demanded, ignoring his demand.

Kouen looked irritated before he answered. "I'm here to get answers. There's been some trouble lately. There have been some dark mediums unleashed from Magnostadt."

"What?" Sche said, coming back to her feet.

"Yes," Kouen admitted, "Who is that?"

"I'm Alibaba Saluja, prince of Balbadd."

"Ah, the loser prince." The man beside him said.

"Care repeating that again?" He said.

"You've got a fiery spirit, but there are more important things at stake here."

There were darkening clouds and strange creatures appearing.

"We've got to stop it." He said.

"I agree." Sche agreed.

Suddenly, Kouen transformed into his other form and went off to attack.

The other two beside him also transformed into their djinn equips and flew off.

"Who are those three?" Alibaba asked Sche.

"They are Kouen Ren, Koumei Ren and Kouha Ren. You might as well join the fight, too."

"Yeah, I could do that. I mean, I think I've mastered it." He transformed while Aladdin watched with wide eyes.

"You've mastered it!" Aladdin cried.

"Yeah, I don't like that I look like a Super Saiyan." He chuckled, ignoring Aladdin's confused gaze.

Wait a second...if the Kou Empire was here, then that meant...oh god.

Why.

Why.

Why.

Why.

As he was out there fighting, a high voice cried out his name.

He dared not turn around.

"ALIBABA-CHAN!"

Suddenly, she was there.

There was Kougyoku coming toward him.

"Nice to see you, too." He muttered, looking away from her boobs.

"Why are you getting so familiar?" The red-haired male on her left said.

She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Well, we're close friends."

"Yeah, we are."

"Ouch, you're hot!" She cried.

"Don't get your hand burned." He urged.

Her eyes widened upon seeing Aladdin. "That's that little brat."

"Who is that?" Aladdin asked.

"I'm Kougyoku!" She cried.

"Oh, that girl. The ugly one."

"Who are you calling ugly?" The two of them circled each other like angry housecats.

"Look, we've got some darkness to kick."

"What is that stuff?" Kougyoku asked.

"That's the darkness in humans' hearts that manifests itself when people are evil. Some of us can carry it with us." At this, Aladdin shot a look over at Kida, who winced slightly.

Sure enough, Dark was reacting, clutching his head, trying not to unleash his powers. All this darkness was causing him to gain more power and energy and Kida was trying to hold him back.

"Whatever that is, it looks evil. Let's destroy it." Kougyoku agreed.

"Where's that guy that's always with you?" He asked.

"Judar-chan? I haven't seen him." she confessed.

"What about Hakuryuu?"

She shrugged. "I haven't seen him at all."

"He suddenly disappeared. We've been looking for him, but no luck. It's concerning." Kouen said.

"I don't know where he is, either." Came the voice of a white-haired woman.

She had nice boobs, Kida thought, glancing at her. Who was she?

"Hakuei-san!" Aladdin cried, noticing that Kougyoku had suddenly clammed up.

"By the way...is Kassim lending us his troops?" Kida asked.

Kougyoku nodded. "Some of them are already fighting. I think they're in your house, right?"

Kida nodded. "Yep."

"Let's go fight."

All of them flew off to go fight.

Kida's thoughts were only on Saki and Mikado...but he was trying hard to ignore the dark rukh swirling about his body, itching for tasting the other dark rukh.

The dark medium charged at Kida, slashing him badly.

" _ALIBABA-CHAN_!" Kougyoku cried, getting enraged enough to send a huge blast of energy at the medium.

"Alibaba-kun!" Aladdin cried, coming to his aid.

Aladdin's eyes widened upon noticing his wound instantly healing itself, as dark energy swirled around the wound. "What is that?"

"...My friend inside me helping out a little. This darkness is nothing but delicious to me." He muttered, licking his lips and standing up. "Time to show them true pain. Right, Dark?"

'Careful. Don't overuse your fire powers. Dark powers will be useless.' Dark muttered.

"Shut up, I can handle it."

"Alibaba-kun, what are you?" Aladdin asked.

"...I am half-fallen. I can use dark and light powers. But it's taxing on my body to use Dark for too long." He explained.

"Dark?"

"He's inside me." Kida said.

"I want a full explanation later." Aladdin said, noticing Kouen watching Kida's wound healing with curious eyes.

"You're a strange one, Saluja. Let's fight together." He said.

"All right..." Kida thought, thinking only one thing.

 _'He must never find out I'm from another world. **Ever.'**_


	17. Chapter 17 marriage deal

**A/N: Whoa, the winds sure are fierce out there. Guess what? My hands are almost entirely back to normal, the only downside is my leg is now bad from walking on the wrong pairs of shoes. My hands are hurting less, can type more, and yes, because I intend on having this be more of a flashback-heavy chapter, and more of sort of hurrying through the apocalyptic part, because I got bored with that real fast, so I think I'm going to return back to Kida's past as he fights the Medium, and then going back to the present, where a most amusing turn of events occurs with Morgiana and Toto.**

If anyone calls Alimor abusive, I will throw you out the fucking window. This is going to be a toxic ship because Kida is a fucking SOCIOPATH. He LIKES the fucked up ness actually. He likes that she's independent and takes no shit.

" **He succeeded in being considered totally uninteresting. People left him alone. And that was all he wanted."**

― **Patrick Süskind, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer**

" **Alone, I often fall down into nothingness. I must push my foot stealthily lest I should fall off the edge of the world into nothingness. I have to bang my head against some hard door to call myself back to the body."**

― **Virginia Woolf, The Waves**

 **Chapter 17 Recollections and Predictions for the Future (Or in other words, lonely boy's recollections)**

* * *

It had been a long time.

It had been a long time indeed since he felt like this, he thought, as he kept on charging at the enemy, kept on going in an endless fury-it felt like so many things.

It almost felt like he was running away from her-her pounding feet charging across the floor of the house, her thin hands wrapping around his throat, suffocating him...there was a word for this, a word, a word, a word.

It was the feeling of...fighting.

Fighting.

He knew that word, he was defined by it.

Which is why, as Alibaba-no, Kida Masaomi-was attacking the mediums with all his might, (despite the darkness sapping at his strength), he slowly felt himself giving in. Like his eyes would close and never open ever again, like he was going to die for real.

"Alibaba-chan, are you all right?" Kougyoku asked, noticing that he was panting and holding his arm to his side.

Oh god, why was she there, looking at him with such soft and tender eyes...oh, fuck it. He didn't care, he wanted her away from him. She was too soft, she'd just melt this barrier, these walls he'd built around himself, the steel he'd built up to conceal his heart. Why was she trying to break down these walls? She couldn't. No one could. He would not let her. He'd be damned if he let her.

Only _he_ could see that side of him. But _he_ was not here, and as such, she could not intrude on a world where she was not wanted, a world where she wasn't needed.

For all Kougyoku Ren was to Alibaba Saluja was...was...a tool. All he could see from her was a valuable tool. That was all he saw her as, and as such, his tool touching him, looking at him in such a way, it was not something he wanted to see. Not at all.

"I'm fine." He exhorted, intending it to be an implicit message of _leave me alone_ , but the message missed her, so she continued staring at him with those worried eyes that were not needed, eyes that were powerful enough to change his mind when she fired a particularly powerful attack at something that nearly hit him and the old man. He breathed out a simple thank you, but his eyes remained focused on the ground.

"Are you a fool, boy? Do you intend to use up all your energy at once?" Kouen demanded.

"I don't care...there's no point." He muttered.

"What do you mean?" Kouen demanded.

"This is the end of the world, isn't it?" A faint smile creased his lips. "Yeah...the end of the world."

'That's just what I want.' He thought, but didn't say anything. Instead he narrowed his eyes.

"I don't want to."

"You're being selfish, the whole fate of the world is at stake here." Kouen lectured.

"I don't care, is there a better way to do this?" He demanded.

"We can go in there." Kouen said, pointing at Mt. Vesuvius below them.

Wait, what?

Was he insane?

"We might as well." Kouen continued, grabbing his arm before the other could protest and plunging him down into the volcano.

To his surprise, Amon was keeping him alive and not killing him.

 _"I don't want to do this_." Amon was complaining in his head.

 _ **"Shut up and continue to do this, bitch."**_

 _"I'm not a woman, how dare you talk to me that way!"_

 ** _"No, bitch means someone lesser than you, which you are, so do as I say."_**

 _"I thought you were going to join your fellow dark brethren."_ Amon sneered.

Upon seeing Dark sprout a bunch of tentacles and suddenly speak in a deeper tone that sounded utterly terrifying, Amon suddenly sounded ready to do as Alibaba wanted.

Kida just smiled. He knew what this meant.

"Nice work, Dark." He muttered under his breath.

As he destroyed the medium, he felt himself giving way to darkness.

* * *

Darkness, darkness, darkness.

He was falling through the air.

He glanced down at the ground. This was the best way to go, as long as his head would crack on the pavement.

Then, an angelic voice answered him, a soft touch.

"Are you all right, Alibaba-san?"

He recognized that voice.

He opened his eyes in time to see long strands of red hair fluttering by him.

He flushed a little before gazing into her eyes.

"Morgiana," He managed.

"I'm glad you recognize me." She said.

"You look hot." He said.

She blinked. "It's not hot up here."

"Never mind." He said, his face burning red in embarrassment.

"I don't quite know what you're trying to get at, but you have to fight that thing up there, right?"

"Who is that?" Kougyoku demanded, apparently having failed to recognize her.

"Is that...?" Morgiana said.

"The Kou Princess? Yes." Kida said cheerfully.

"Are you sure that's Kougyoku-oneesan?" Aladdin said.

"You little brat! When I get my hands on you!" She snarled, shaking her fist at him.

"Aladdin is a good friend!" Kouha protested.

"Well, he attacked Judar." She snarled.

"He complimented me."

"That's enough, you two. Both you and the Magi need to apologize and make up." Kouen scolded.

Both of them shook hands, but it was an extremely strained apology between the two.

* * *

Lady Sche died shortly after, and Alibaba discovered he had to go back to Balbadd, as the Kou Empire wanted to see him about some such treaty or something.

He didn't know what that meant, but it meant Kassim probably needed to see him.

"All right, Morgiana, you can stay here." He said cheerfully, but she packed her things and came on the boat with him, much to his bewilderment.

"I'll be coming with you."

"No, it's best if women stay behind while men do the work-"

Upon feeling the earth shake beneath his feet, Kida muttered something in assent.

She smiled. "Thank you, Alibaba-san."

Even more frustratingly, Morgiana kept asking if he was fine.

Did he look fine? He brushed her off, saying brusquely that he was fine, even though he was seasick, because of course they _had_ to travel by fucking boat.

"Are you all right, Alibaba?"

"I'm fine."

"No, what I mean is...why did the dark stuff almost seem to destroy you?"

He stared at her, startled, and her face clearly showed triumph, as she continued on.

"It's almost like you can control darkness. Why didn't you tell Aladdin? What did those monkeys mean when they said you scared them? Why do you keep trying to do everything alone?"

She was hitting too many nerves.

"I don't get what you're talking about, Morgiana. You probably dreamed this." He said cheerfully.

"No, it's true. You told me yourself that you were fallen, and even that man said so. Tell me, why do you insist on doing everything yourself? You can't! You have to rely on us." She cried.

Kida started to laugh. "I'm sorry, but this is a fight you cannot help me with. I appreciate your sincerity, I really do, but this is something I must do alone, so please just stand behind me and mind your own business, okay?"

"But Alibaba, if this is the path that will result in you potentially..."

"Doesn't matter. It's my choice, so please just respect my decision and be quiet." He snapped.

She slapped him across the face.

He stared at her, wide-eyed.

"What the fuck was that for?" He snarled.

The use of the cursing startled her, causing her to move back a little. "Alibaba-san?" She cried, "Why are you lying? You're lying, aren't you? You're hiding things!"

"It's complicated." Was all he said, "And if you get too involved, you might...just please believe in my word and that's good..."

"That's not good enough! Why do you want to hurt yourself so much? Think about the pain you cause others when you do this! How can you just walk away from people like this? It's not right! Alibaba-san, you don't seem to care about your own life."

Kida was stunned. He had no idea how to answer.

"I think you're probably just a little...um..um, menstruating?"

"Menstruating...what's that?" She asked.

"You know...when girls...bleed?" He said, laughing nervously.

Her face turned beet red, and then she instinctively tried to kick him, but he dodged by stepping around him.

"Who are you, really?" She demanded.

"I'm Alibaba, your friend!" He chirped, smiling widely once again.

"But-"

"Please don't worry about me, because Morgiana knows that I'm just Alibaba Saluja and I've got nothing complicated going on! Really, all I wanna know is how I can flirt with the world's best girls and that's it!" He yelled, doing a series of weird gestures that had Morgiana staring.

"Is that so?" She said in irritation.

"But..." He trailed off, turning back around, his eyes suddenly cold and his gaze austere, "Morgiana..."

"What?" She froze at the look on his face.

"Secrets are called that for a reason. Intrude on them, and the consequences could be disastrous. So, please...just don't get yourself involved. That's all I ask."

"Alibaba..." She whispered, for he looked so much like someone else that it puzzled her.

"I'm sorry, I can't." He said softly, and then he went off to his room, utterly frustrated with himself.

'Why did I give myself away like that?!' He cried in his head.

Meanwhile, Morgiana was very frustrated, frustrated over the lack of progress she'd made on unwrapping his secrets.

Kida fell asleep and recalled a time, long ago...when he'd been alone.

 _Food, all he wanted was food and shelter._

 _He screamed this at the people as they laughed and took it from him, calling him things in a language he knew nothing of._

 _They tried to grab at him before he'd run away from them, fearing for his very life._

 _When they'd tried to whip him and tried to put shackles on him, he'd screamed and punched them, beaten and bloodied as he was, and sped away from them, limping on his bleeding leg and his nearly broken arm._

 _He managed to outrun them and hide._

 _"Shackles? Slaves? They don't exist anymore. Not here...not!" He muttered, shaking._

 _He didn't quite know how he could understand the language here._

 _He still thought he was crazy._

 _"No way..." Kida muttered, "I'm stuck in the past? How the hell did that happen? You gotta be kidding me..."_

 _Sinking to his knees, he spent that first night crying hysterically._

 _Then, nights after that, being ignored, shoved aside, threatened to be sold into slavery, called names._

 _Kassim had extended his hand out to him and then they'd become brothers._

"Alibaba-san, we're here." Morgiana said, snapping him out of his reveries.

"Welcome back, Prince Alibaba." Balkirk said, "His majesty wishes to see you."

It was then that he saw Kassim.

"It's been a while." They said to each other.

"Look, they wanted an alliance with us, so they suggested a marriage. They originally wanted you to marry a princess of their empire."

Oh no...

"But they suggested it be me instead, as I'm an actual ruler..."

"NO WAY, SO YOU'RE MARRYING..."

"Relax, Kida, it's fine." He said, "So anyhow, I'm to marry her and it's not like I like her."

"Right, because I totally don't see you talking about her in your letters to me." Kida taunted.

"Say a single word about it and I'll strangle you with your scarf, that is if you even had it." Kassim sighed.

"Just this piece." Kida said, holding out a single golden piece of his scarf, "Destroyed, remember?"

"Listen, did you find out anything else about those dark things?" Kassim asked, "I keep feeling threatened by my guards."

"Don't talk like that, Kassim! I'd think that someone wants you dead." Kida cried.

They discussed other things, too, such as how the Fog Troupe was doing...

* * *

Omake

Meanwhile, Kougyoku sneezed.

She could've sworn that someone was talking about her.

Was it Alibaba-chan? That man named Kassim.

Why was she so reluctant to call him -chan?

"So I heard you have a crush on that Kassim guy." Judar taunted.

Upon being attacked by water projectiles, he fled.

"You can forget about using my djinn the next time you want to use ice magic!"

Judar's screams of terror could be heard everywhere, including by Gyokuen, who looked up in bewilderment before laughing, figuring that the magi she hated was being tortured in some way or another, before going back to torturing another innocent soul, and by Hakuryuu, who was still daydreaming over Morgiana.

'Could it be that she's won over Alibaba? I knew it, I knew he was in love with her.' He thought to himself.

Alibaba, apparently, slept with his eyes open, according to Lady Morgiana.

How scary.

His staring was almost predatory, in a sense, Morgiana thought.

It felt weird to be staring at such a mechanical face before the sadness returned to his eyes, before the loneliness returned to his face.

"Morgianaaaaaaa...I need cherries!" He wailed.

She facepalmed. "Cherries are not essential to the state of the world." She said, holding out a single cherry, which he devoured.

"I need to function with them!" He exclaimed.

Omake the announcement

Hakuryuu choked on his water.

Judar choked on his peach.

Kouha gasped.

"What did you just say?" All three of them exclaimed.

"Do not tell Kougyoku this, but we have engaged her to be married."

Kougyoku was passing by at that very moment.

"WHAT? WHAT DID YOU DO, BROTHER?" She screamed.

Kouen paled.

"Uh..."

"It had better not be Sinbad!" she roared.

"No...not Sinbad..."

"Judar-chan?" She said, staring at Judar before flushing.

"Heavens, no?"

"Hakuryuu...?"

"No."

"We were thinking of engaging you to King Kassim."

At this instant, Kougyoku's face turned so red it rivaled the cherries Kida liked so much and she passed out.

"That went well." Kouha remarked.


	18. Chapter 18 Kida fights back

**a/N: I hate to post politics, but in less than a month, the FCC is voting to end net neutrality, which has kept our fics, art, rp, etc, going. Defend our fanfics by calling your representative and telling them to say no to this bullshit. Everyone has to do it, to put pressure on them to end it and let us have our fics.**

 **Anyway, Kida finds himself in quite the moral compromise in this chapter. Zepar happens and...how does a sociopath react to that? You'll see. Kassim and Kida go visit Kougs and some fun stuff should happen, hee hee.**

 **""I've been doing this a long time- manipulating people to get my way. That's why you think you love me. Because I've broken you down and built you back up to believe it. It wasn't an accident. Once you leave this behind... you'll see that. -Caleb"**

― **C.J. Roberts, Seduced in the Dark**

" **One nurse thought I was "brave." I think she was talking about my steely-eyed, grin-and-bear-it kind of attitude. There were no tears, no complaints from me - a total lack of affect. In a victim, it is courage and thus admirable; in a predator, it is a lack of humanity and instills fear."**

― **M.E. Thomas, Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight**

 **Chapter 18 Zepar**

* * *

She'd never felt quite so giddy and happy in her life, she thought, as she walked down the hallways of the Empire, formerly so cold and distant, but now filling her with a sense of pride she'd never, ever, ever felt before in her eighteen years of life. For once, she wasn't just a pretty, lonely girl anymore, but rather a princess, a general-just wait until they heard the news! She had to tell them!

Her crimson hair spilling behind her like flames, Kougyoku Ren moved on, down the hallway, desperate to write a letter to hear from her two closest friends: Kassim and dear Alibaba-chan. She didn't quite know how to describe the two, other than that they were total opposites.

Kassim-san was roguish and rough and tumble, despite being a king. Yet he was also gentle and there was a strange sadness to his eyes that made you want to...want to...what? Her cheeks flushed and she hid her face behind her sleeves, embarrassed at what kinds of thoughts she was having about him. They were just friends, she swore it. She was sure...right?

Why was her heart pounding then, thinking about him? Why was she always imagining him at every time, every moment that happened, what he would say, what he would do?

Oh...that's simple...she was...she was in love with him.

Wait, what?

No way that's possible.

No, she's just friends with him, end of story.

Then she thought about Alibaba-chan, the lone prince who saved her from her loneliness and introduced her to Kassim-san, and her cheeks flushed even more with pride. He was everything she'd ever hoped for in a friend: kind, gentle, a good listener, compassionate, selfless and funny, too. His blond hair was like that of an angels and his eyes were as...come to think of it, she always avoided looking into his eyes, as she found them to be too piercing to look at.

She didn't often run across someone with amber eyes, but when she did, it was hard not to stare. His eyes looked like they saw everything about her and didn't judge. Then the way he just listened without judging and said the right things at the right time. The way he'd held his hand out to her and acted as though it was no big deal that he was associating with this loner princess.

She cared for him very much as a friend, but if she had to admit it, he was cute as well...though she must admit, she had a thing for dark-haired guys.

First Sinbad, now Kassim-san, admit it, you like dark-haired guys,' a part of her mind said.

"What?" She yelped, causing Koumei to look up at her from where he was feeding pigeons before turning back to his handiwork.

First things first: find a private place to yell at yourself.

Second, if she ever does get married...it'd better be to a good man.

Her thoughts solely consumed on Kassim-san and Alibaba-chan, she failed to notice that her mind was being occupied by another being, one with not so benevolent intentions.

It was from then on that Kougyoku Ren would know nightmarish destruction and erosion of her very mind and psyche, all from the hands of one greedy man who must know everything.

* * *

His purple hair blew in his face as he stood on the top of the building.

"This is more interesting than I thought it would be." He purred, "I'll contact both Alibaba-kun and King Kassim, and make them trust me."

It wouldn't take much to make Alibaba-kun sway to his side. He was a stupid, naive boy who believed whatever he was told anyway. Kassim, on the other hand, was a clever, cynical boy who was defiant and openly challenged authority.

Perhaps he could put Zepar in his mind, too, slowly brainwash him to become loyal to Sindria.

Yes, yes, he must not have any enemies.

As he plotted and schemed, the Kou Princess dreamed of her friends, not knowing her life was soon to be ruined in the hours to come, not just by the one who controlled her mind, but by the one who was toying with her also.

Kida decided one thing as he was finally allowed off the filthy boat to enter the Kou Empire: never trust water, ever. It was just plain evil.

Wiping the sweat off his face with one arm, he carefully but surely jumped onto the ground, wincing a little at how off his balance was before readying himself, a calm smile on his face.

Now he must look cheery and stupid like usual. Time to pose for the camera.

Kassim came out next, followed by his royal guards.

They went with him everywhere.

"Welcome, King Kassim and your associate." The...friends of the Empire said.

It was obvious they didn't think much of Alibaba at the moment.

He rolled his eyes in response.

"Prince Kouen wishes to see you two. Please, come with me."

Kida raised a brow. He wondered why that would be.

Hadn't Kassim told him that Kouen had been fine with him marrying Kougyoku?

What if he wanted to force it on him?

He gulped slightly.

Kouen...was terrifying. To word it better, he was...impossible to decipher, and no such thing should exist for a sociopath. He was normally able to read every waking thought or expression of a human with ease, to not be able to do so almost equated to his helplessness in the face of a man with such rank and power. He hated feeling weak.

"Keep your temper under control." Kassim warned, knowing what his friend was like.

"I will, I will." He growled, swatting at some flies in the air with his bare hands.

Kassim sighed.

"Ah, hello, King Kassim, I've been expecting you." Kouen Ren said casually, his eyes settled on Kida before looking him up and down. "Oh, and you...I've wanted to talk with you."

Kida raised a brow. "Ah, Kouen-san, about what, exactly?" He tried to sound as sheepish and meek as possible. Go for the weak persona, they always like that.

"About...the marriage."

Oh no, they weren't reconsidering their choice?

"Yeah?" He asked.

"What color is best suited for my sister? A pink or red dress?" Kouen said in a deadpan tone, but he looked urgent.

"What..." Kassim muttered, "This is stupid. Why are you asking us this?"

"You're the groom, you should know." Koumei pointed out.

Kassim flushed even darker. "We haven't even kissed or anything yet, this is a bit much."

"Just so we're clear...my sister is not an object to be used in any way. If I find out you've been harassing her, abusing her, calling her names, or being improper...I will have your head on a stake, King Kassim. Are we clear?" The level of killing intent coming from Kouen was amazing.

Kida remained standing, impassive but faked fear.

Kassim blanched before bowing, (concealing a gaze of disgust), "Yes, Prince Kouen. I will do my best to treat Princess Kougyoku with the respect, pride and dignity that she deserves as my bride-to-be."

"Good. Now, I must also make sure you are the right person for her." He asked.

"Um...what about her say?" Kida piped up.

Kouen stared at him like he'd grown a third head. "Excuse me?"

"...Does she know that she is to be married off? I'd think, since this involves her directly, she should be informed." Kida said, grinning wryly.

'No, Kida,' Kassim thought, 'Don't go trying to enforce your modern attitude...'

"No, she does not know, and why should she? She can worry about it later. She'll be fine with whoever we choose for her, Saluja. It's not your place to tell us who we can't choose to become part of our family. Seeing as you don't know the slightest thing about royalty or keeping loyalty, you wouldn't understand." Kouen said scornfully.

Kassim saw Kida's fists tighten ever so slightly before he relaxed, his face morphing into a grin and his eyes narrowed. Oh man, this was not good.

Kida was angry. _Very, very angry._ He could tell when he was angry, as his whole aura morphed into one of frigidity. He looked placid, calm as ice, only on the inside, he was raging and boiling hot.

Kida wasn't the one who showed his anger visibly. No, he spoke it, he felt it and he acted on it. But he never showed it. He was clever and dangerous when angry. He looked calm but was actually preparing to strike, like the snake rearing his head back to spit venom in the animal's face who'd pissed it off.

"I do know about loyalty. I saved my kingdom from destruction by my brother. That you'd suggest I don't care about the people or about my kingdom is wrong and shows how misguided you are! Don't you care about her feelings!?"

Oh, he was acting.

Here he was playing the melodramatic fool who cares too much. It was awfully convincing.

"Calm down, cherry boy. You'll be fine." Koumei said casually. "We could always get you a nice girl to settle down with."

"I do like cherries, so the name suits me fine." He said sarcastically, grinning widely, prompting odd stares from both of them. "But I just want my friend to know about this! She must know!"

"That being said, this deal is between myself, King Kassim, and Koumei Ren only. It is none of your business what we do or do not do, Saluja. Do you understand me?" He stood up.

"What?" Kida said, smirking widely at him. "I didn't quite hear you."

"A PERSON LIKE YOU WHO DESERTED HIS OWN POSITION TO BE KING IS NOT WORTHY OF MY TIME OR RESPECT." Kouen commanded.

His eyebrows twitched, but all the same, he got down on his knees and bowed. "Yes, your majesty, I acknowledge how worthless I am. Thank you for your time." He said sarcastically.

Koumei snickered a little, noticing snark when he heard it.

Kouen didn't catch it, however. "Good, now get out of my sight."

* * *

Kida didn't even hesitate to leave, but not before he committed a little act of rebellion. Glancing around, he saw some food lying on a table, royal food, no less. He picked up the jug of water lying there and poured it down the length of the table, where it was hidden by the cloth, slowly dripping down into a puddle, which he would hopefully slip on and break a bone.

Smirking wryly at his clever trick, he just decided to watch and wait.

Koumei came out, not really questioning, and bam, slipped on the puddle and fell flat on his face. Blinking in confusion, he got back up, glanced around, noticed the puddle, and started yelling at a servant to clean it up and not be so irresponsible next time. Back to the old-fashioned racist inside them, he thought, snickering.

They'd never think to blame him.

As the poor servant bowed and nervously got to cleaning up the mess, Kida just watched, feeling nothing for the servant other than a slight distaste. But he hadn't died, he just now had a bruise on his face. A bruise to match his disgusting attitude.

Karma is a bitch.

"Alibaba-chan!"

Oh, no.

He turned, slowly but surely.

In time to see her, walking towards him.

"I've missed you, Alibaba-chan!" She cried, "I'm so glad you came to see me, where's Kassim-san?"

"He's in negotiations with Kouen." He said icily. "Good to know."

"Huh?" She blinked, puzzled by the frosty reception.

"Kougyoku, let's go talk elsewhere."

"What's wrong with here?" She asked.

"It would just be weird, don't you think? We can have some privacy and talk things over in private. Like about your bad flower crowns." He said cheerfully.

She flushed. "You're right...you always are."

"That's right! Now let's go...and you can tell me all about your day..."

 _'And I'll pretend to care...'_

"Tell me about your friends..."

 _'That I don't care about..'_

"Tell me how much you've thought about me..."

' _I don't really give a shit.._.'

The puppet act was beginning and the mask was on.

As usual, she was sunshine cheery and bright. Nothing got her down.

"You're becoming a general?" He asked.

Someone this naive was a general.

 _ **'She's obviously just bait...**_ ' Dark muttered.

 _'Yep,_ ' He muttered in his head.

"My brother will help the world see reason! Everyone needs to accept the Kou Empire!" She exclaimed.

Oh dear lord, is she going to drink Kool Aid next?

"Other people are allowed to exist without being conquered, Kougyoku."

"Huh? What do you mean, Alibaba?" She asked.

"While your brother has his own ideas, other peoples are allowed to have theirs. People shouldn't be forced to integrate into one whole country. That's what's called a totalitarian regime. Do you understand that?" He asked.

"Tota-what?" She asked.

" _To-ta-li-ta-r-i-an_. It means, the government has complete control over everything you do, believe and say. Does that sound okay to you?"

"Uh-huh." She said cheerfully.

"No, I mean, they control you, like a puppet, and kill the bad people, except the bad people are those who go against them even slightly, like say they made you think green was a good color and pink was evil. Say you think pink is a good color. Would you think it acceptable to kill someone for that?" He questioned.

She narrowed her eyes. "No, but En-nii doesn't do things like that!"

He laughed a little. "Oh, Kougyoku. Your brother's a good actor. But he cares more about looking like he's doing something than doing it. He's better than Sinbad, I'll give him that."

"I didn't know you were so critical." She said, her face drooping.

"That doesn't mean I don't like you, Kougyoku! I just don't approve of innocent people having to be ruled over, you know?"

"You know, it was because of you and Kassim-san that I was able to make decisions outside the Kou Empire's way of thinking...so..." She placed her hands on his. "I'll do anything for either of you two!"

He backed away a little, laughing. "Sometimes, I wish you wouldn't do things like that. Hey, did you know..." He began, but she suddenly shut up.

"Kougyoku?" He asked.

She smiled, a wide grin that was not like her, and stared at him.

* * *

He knew then, this was not her. Someone else was controlling her like Chara controls Frisk.

"...Okay, I know you're not her. Speak up." He said sharply, his eyes going cold as he placed on the Shogun mask. The cold, authoritarian side of him, the side that was a leader but clearly read: don't mess with me or else you'll die.

The figure paused, before a surprised look took on their visage. "Oh? Then who am I, Alibaba-kun?"

"Sinbad..." He muttered, looking unsurprised.

Sinbad was clearly not expecting his apathetic air and aura of uncaring emanating from him right now.

"I thought you'd be more surprised. I've been watching you two." He said.

"Got a webcam stashed somewhere?" He snarked.

"What?" Sinbad said, confused.

"Never mind. How are you doing this?" He said, sounding astonished.

"Through my djinn, Zepar. It allows me to project my thoughts into the user so I can make them fall asleep and then painlessly take over them for a bit. I have one in every country."

Aren't you talkative, Sinbad.

"Okay." He said.

"I'm using her to spy on her family, you know."

He blinked. "So?"

"Aren't you friends with her?"

"Yes." He said robotically.

"Doesn't this upset you?"

He looked at him with indifference painted on his face. "No."

Sinbad looked annoyed. "Come now, don't be stubborn, I know you are angry."

He paused, before snickering darkly. "I'm not angry, it's hilarious."

"What is?" Sinbad asked.

"That you're an older man, possessing a teenage girl's body, that's what. I think you have some problems to work out." He said, laughing so hard he was shaking.

"Alibaba-kun, cease the childish insults. I know you're upset about this, but think logically here."

"I am thinking logically." He said stiffly, putting his arms together and resuming his previous stance. "So you're using her as a meat puppet?"

"Yes."

"And you intend to drag her into war if you have to?"

"Yes."

"Why are you doing this?" He asked.

"Because I must know what's going on."

He twiddled his thumbs. "That's not a bad position to take."

Sinbad just stared at him. "Alibaba-kun, are you feeling well?"

"On the contrary, Sinny," He taunted, a wicked grin crossing his face as he stood up and strode toward him, "I'm feeling pretty fine. But here I see an old guy pretending to be a young girl and I find that frankly...very, very...revolting. Why don't you come out of her and be your real self? I find that much less worthy of making me want to vomit." He said sardonically.

Sinbad's vein throbbed. "Alibaba-kun, you are angry about her. Are you going to hit me?"

"No." He said, checking his fingers.

"Are you going to hate me?"

"No."

"What?" Sinbad said.

"What?"

"What did you just say?" He asked.

"What did who say?" Kida parroted.

"Who said what did..."

"I never said what did who." He said.

"Stop it, Alibaba-kun."

"Stop what?" He said, slouching back, flipping a coin in his hands.

"Stop messing around and tell me what you really think." Sinbad sounded pissed off now.

"I told you. I'm not saying."

"You know, you can always pretend to like the Kou Empire." He suggested, smiling.

He didn't feel anything other than a strange hatred.

"...By the way, Sinny...how will Jafar react to seeing this?" He said.

"What?" Sinbad sounded stunned.

"I'm going to tell Jafar you like masquerading as and possessing young women, that should go over well." He said cheerfully. "You've gone too far in trying to attract women, Sinbad-san."

"I...uh...um, yes it is useful, but this is the only female host I use..." Sinbad muttered.

"It's all right, I just want to learn from you the mastery of how to attract girls! And also the Kou Empire is just marrying off Kassim to Kougyoku..."

He deadpanned. "What is wrong with you?"

"What?" He said cheerfully, grinning widely.

"Alibaba-kun, something is wrong with you."

"There's nothing wrong with me." He said cheerfully.

"Are you possessed? You can't be the real Alibaba. Alibaba-kun is an idiot."

"I think Sinbad hit his head. Real bad." Kida snickered.

"Who are you and what have you done with Alibaba-kun?"

"That's for me to know..." He replied, "And for you to find out," He muttered before pulling out a tiny object out of his pocket, and firing it.

It was a tranquilizer.

The second it hit Sinbad, he blinked. "What the-"

The next second, the body of Kougyoku swayed and fell to the roof, peacefully snoring, as Sinbad's "body wifi" crashed.

"That's for wasting my time, being a total creep, and...boring me, and also, being a pedophile. At least I'm above pedophiles." He said to himself, before at least propping her up but otherwise, paying her no mind.

"Alibaba, what's happening?" Kassim asked, "I finally found you."

"You're not gonna like it. But Sinbad's possessing your fiancee." Kida said.

"What?" He cried.

Kida explained.

* * *

"Sin, explain this!" Jafar cried angrily, waving pictures of what looked to be Sinbad in Kougyoku's body in Sinbad's face.

Sinbad paled. "Who painted those?"

"I don't know, but the person painted in there looks like you! These were left on my desk this morning!" He snapped. "Did you do something to Princess Kougyoku? I thought I trusted you."

"Jafar, I-"

"Despicable. Do you even know how sickening that is? You've possessed her body without her consent. I thought you were above things like this." Jafar snapped. "Explain this to me. Now."

Sinbad flinched. "Alibaba-kun is possessed."

"What? You've gotta be kidding me." Jafar said, "Why don't you stop blaming Alibaba, who is _clearly_ innocent in this picture, and explain why you felt like possessing a teenage girl."

Sinbad knew it. He was fucked.

"Masrur, want to know what Sin was doing? Possessing the body of a teenage girl with Zepar."

Masrur ground his fists together. "Explain." He said stonily.

Sinbad winced. He was so dead.


	19. Chapter 19 mother

A/N: Now I'm diving into Kida's past (again) after a long and frustrating day with my stupid psychologist acting like I was "nuts" for having so much passion for my fanfics and for my muses of inspiration. They're just stupid, because seriously, it's totally normal to be creative for stories. Anyhow, I'm gonna channel that rage into this fic. I've noticed a lot of serial killers had messed-up childhoods (Kemper, Manson, etc) and that sort of fueled my interest in Kida's backstory. This time, however, the tale will be told from his mother's viewpoint of her son-whom she loathes and sees as a burden, sees as the product of a failed marriage and thus she hates him.

""Abusive parents have inappropriate expectations of their children, with a reversal of dependence needs. Parents treat an abused child as if the child were older than the parents. A parent often turns to the child for reassurance, nurturing, comfort, and protection and expects a loving response."

― Benjamin James Sadock

Chapter 19 Mother

* * *

As he stared at the fallen princess while Kassim was talking to Kouen about the whole ordeal, Kida just sat in silence, just watching her. There was no real interest in the way he examined her, however. A grin came upon his face as he thought about how vulnerable she looked-before he immediately stopped those thoughts in their tracks, where they belonged. He did want to do something, something that normally he wouldn't be permitted to do.

He wanted to touch that thing that went down the side of her dress. Was that thing made out of fabric or not? He had to know.

So, carefully, he extended his arm out, and touched.

It was fabric, and a strange, smushy kind he hadn't felt before. Then, he immediately removed his hand from her and effectively turned his eyes away from her. He didn't once stop to think or ask Kassim if she was okay at all. All he could think as this happened was how inconvenient the whole thing was and how he wished he could just never meet her. She was so annoying. This whole Empire shit was so annoying.

He slammed his fist against the wall in frustration, cursing. "Shit!" For a second, the princely nice guy mask would come off. He heard a footfall and froze.

There was a person looking at him. One with long, red hair. Shit, he was caught.

"I just hit my hand on that and it really, really hurt!" He whined.

He just blinked and stared at him.

Dammit, this mini psychopath kid was really freaky. Answer him.

Finally, the redhead spoke up. "I hope you really care for my sister. I've seen the way you look at her, and it annoys me."

"What?" He said, feigning disbelief. "Of course I do."

"You look at her like she's an annoying person. Of course, she is-but that's not the point. She's still my sister, so don't be untoward toward her, or I might get mad. Like, don't try to seduce her or something." He said.

"I've got no attraction towards her, so that's not happening." He remarked in annoyance.

"Some of us can see through your disguise. Just be gentle with her." And then the weirdo kid left, as strangely as he had come.

Where the fuck was the Judar guy? At least he was somewhat interesting.

Speak of the devil, there he was, coming toward him. "Oh hey, it's you, Mr. Blondie! I can't seem to ever scare you for some reason!"

His eyes fell upon Kougyoku's unconscious form, and then the smile fell off his face, before his eyes went from her to him. "What did you do to her?"

"Not me," He said, shrugging his shoulders, "You can just ask Sinbad that question. He possessed her body with his djinn."

The guy called Judar froze, just staring at him, before he started to shake in anger. "I can't believe that stupid king. He's gonna get it, I swear. Only I get to prank the stupid hag."

"She's admittedly not that smart." Kida said.

"Yeah, that's true, but...ha? Aren't you her friend?" Judar asked.

"More like reluctant companion." He said, yawning.

"Ah, you're like me? The I don't give a shit about anything? Why must you pretend to? It's so much better to just admit it." He said.

"Because...it's much more fun that way-you can let your enemies in and then destroy them, without fail." Kida said, smirking.

"I like the way you think, kid. Just promise me one thing: don't ever hurt her too badly." He said.

"Okay." Kida said, before he approached Kougyoku's limp form, and when Judar was out of earshot, leaned down and said, more to himself, "I don't like you. You're annoying, useless and a pain in the ass. Why the fuck am I intervening for you? You're always interfering wiht my plans. It's so annoying."

Even so...he just got up and walked away from her, so that when she woke, it was to be with Kassim only in the room, Kida having gone off somewhere else to be by himself, sulking his time away by smashing various insects and other tiny invertebrates into pieces.

He picked up a butterfly and watched it struggle in his arms before he, for some reason...paused and unclasped his fingers, and the terrified bug flew free. He watched it go before picking up another one and swinging it around, laughing at its terror.

"Pathetic beings. Why can't I bring myself to hurt regular animals? Why just these boring insects?" He muttered.

"Hey, blondie, I can provide you with a person to torture, if you want." Judar said.

"All right, but only a little bit." He said.

The blood was pouring out by the time they were finished.

"You're not half-bad with insects. I love mangling them into pieces."

"Uh-huh." He said.

"And then you ripping their wings off and spreading them to trees, very fascinating."

"Yeah."

"I only knew that kid Kouha was capable of such shit. That's very fascinating." Judar said, before he paused, "Hey, tell me where you're from."

Kida paused for a second. "Another dimension."

"Ha, seriously?" Judar said.

When he nodded, he just whistled. "I knew there was something different about ya. Say, what were your parents like?"

"Pieces of shit." He said through mouthfuls of food.

"Mine probably were, too." Judar said, "Her father wouldn't even look at her and her mom died when she was young. Kougyoku's, I mean. She's had to live in the shadows her whole life, so I befriended her."

"So?" He said, finishing off the last of the cherry dish.

"So I'm saying you're doing her a favor, so you're on good terms with me, still." He said.

"Oh." Kida said, not interested in finishing this conversation.

"So, what was your mom like?" He said.

Kida smashed another bug, then paused. "A selfish bitch, she didn't really want me, if I think about it from her point of view, then I can sort of understand better."

And so he started to recall his past, imagining what it was like for his mother-as hard as it was to put himself in her shoes, he tried and this was what he envisioned:

* * *

 _She was happy once._

 _Once, she had dreams of her own._

 _All of that was ruined._

 _She met him, one day, at the beach. He was handsome, with brown hair that she wanted to run her fingers through, and so he charmed her into falling for him, and they began a relationship._

 _She was madly in love, he, however had other ideas and was roving over other women all the time. But she knew this man would be the one._

 _He took her aside once. "You know, make sure you're always prepared, because I don't want a fucking kid."_

 _"I always use protection. Besides, I don't want anything else getting in the way of our love." She replied happily._

 _The father was a little disturbed at the idea of her calling a kid a thing, but ignored it._

 _"I missed my period!" She cried, "I...I think I'm pregnant."_

 _"You're not pregnant. That's impossible." He scoffed, "Unless of course, you've been unfaithful."_

 _"Of course not! I love you only, dear. Do you think we can raise the child together?" That was the only way she'd accept this child, after all-she'd allow no love to be greater than the one she felt for him. The child would come second, after all._

 _"No, I'm not having a kid. I'm not interested, goodbye." And like that, he was gone, with the woman falling into a heartbroken state._

 _The more she brooded and the farther along she became, the more irritated and angry she got. She hated feeling it move around in her, using her body like a parasite. How dare it take her man from her. Now she couldn't party anymore or have any fun, because now people were paying it more attention than her. Her parents were so proud, saying that she'd make a great mother and she'd pretended to agree, but inside, she felt nothing but loathing._

 _"I don't want this child." She'd declared to her mother, who looked shocked._

 _"But of course you do."_

 _"I hate it. It's ruining my life, and it's disgusting. I wish it were dead. I'm going to dispose of it soon enough." She said, grinning while she said this._

 _Her mother slapped her. "How dare you say such things about an innocent child. You will raise that child with love."_

 _Grimacing, she turned her back on her parents and endured the rest of the torturous months, still wishing the child would die and not make it. Sadly, she didn't miscarry. Her stomach got even bigger and her disgust grew even more._

 _Then, the terrible day came, when the child was born._

 _A baby boy, happy, healthy...and looking just like him. For that reason alone, she rejected him. He cried in her arms._

 _"He's beautiful!" The nurse chirped._

 _"Take him." She said._

 _"What?" The nurse said, stunned by what she was hearing._

 _"I said, if you like him so much, take him. I don't want him. He's annoying and he won't shut up." She screeched._

 _Figuring it was just postpartum playing a part, the nurse didn't take her too seriously. The father came to see his child and nodded._

 _"He looks like me. That's good." He said, "I'm not coming back to your crazy ass, so you're on your own."_

 _Her heart sank lower._

 _She returned home with the creature._

 _She stared at it as it sat in its crib, watching her and crying hysterically. What the fuck did it want? Oh...she had to nurse it. Great, how embarrassing, she was a common dairy cow to a disgusting brat. She did the necessary measures, but minus any degree of love or care. It was all mechanical, and the baby could tell right away that his mother did not love him, she would shoo him away when he tried to get her attention or call her name, scream at him to shut up and try to hit him for crying, and force him to eat food._

 _"Eat it." She commanded. The baby shook his head no._

 _She shoved it into his mouth. He spat it back out._

 _"You disgusting piece of shit, I told you to eat all of it!" She screamed at him, causing him to cry again. "Stop your fucking crying!"_

 _She hated his crying, it was so annoying. Whine this, whine that. She always had to lose sleep to this filthy creature wanting everything and anything. Now no guys would date her, now she couldn't get any semblance of a social life while caring for a revolting, drooling kid. She slapped him when he wouldn't eat his food or when he wouldn't shut up. He'd cry even harder, so that just made things worse._

 _She took one look at the baby's swollen face and turned away, not caring._

 _The child grew to realize that his presence was unwanted and that his mother was too consumed with herself. Very frequently, he'd refuse food from her or just sit there in his crib and stare at her, unnervingly. It creeped her out._

 _"Mama!" He cried, his first word, coming toward her happily._

 _For a second, she almost accepted it...until she remembered that this brat stole everything away from her. Her hopes, her dreams, her man. Stolen by a bratty child._

 _She pushed him backwards, knocking him over and grabbing him. "I hate you! You ruined everything, you disgusting monster! Why don't you just die?"_

 _The child cried, before she laughed at the child's attempts to get back up. "Keep trying, you're a disgrace."_

 _She'd snap photos of him crying and give them to her friends. It was hilarious watching the little shit cry and then try to insult her._

 _Gradually, he stopped trying to reach out to her and grew more distant._

 _One time, she woke to find that knives were all around her from every direction._

 _She opened her eyes and looked up to see that the child was sitting there, a gleam in his eyes as he said, "Hello, mommy."_

 _Instantly, she chewed him out for the knives and beat him, again, with her fists, a switch, whatever worked. But he stopped crying and instead smiled, which infuriated her more._

 _She didn't care about him at all, but her parents loved the little thing and took care of it. It-it was not a he to her. Not a human._

 _She recalled the time he'd tried to bring an animal in the house, only for her to proceed to dispose of it before telling him if he brought any pets in the house, she'd kill them, so he was not to bring filthy animals in. However, she wasn't sure whether or not he'd learned his lesson._

 _The funniest thing was that now he was scared of her and angry and would curse at her._

 _His father came to visit the young child, who was drawing violent pictures with a crayon of a woman being stabbed by knives, and was startled at both his high intelligence and his ignoring his own father._

 _"Do you know who I am?"_

 _"Should I care?" was the five-year old's response. "I don't care."_

 _"What did you do to the kid?" He asked, impatiently._

 _"I just ignored him." She said flatly. "Stay over here."_

 _"No, I'm getting out of here." He said, trying to touch his son, but who slapped his hand away as if being confronted by filth and gave him the coldest stare possible._

 _Then he met that infuriating young boy and his meddling parents._

 _Then finally his mother met her end at the hands of his father._

 _He'd come in and found her and her new lover in the heat of passion, at which point, he'd snapped. Wrapping a telephone cord around her lover, he strangled him to death, then attacked his mother, stabbing her repeatedly while she tried to escape and then shooting her in the head. When he was done, he blew his own brains out. He had chosen to spare Kida only because Kida was a child and was in school at the time._

 _After that, Kida was never the same._

 _"Sounds to me like she was total shit." Judar said._

 _"Yeah, she really was." Kida said._


	20. Chapter 20 Collapsing Masquerade

A/N: HAHAHAHA...my ass is salty today. So what that means is there's an update to this story. As I said before, Alibaba is manipulating the fuck out of a lot of characters, not just Kougyoku, but she _is_ going to be one of his primary targets.

Today will be the moment where Alibaba's sanity is truly tested-some of his lies will be put to the test and other people are now going to see the truth about him. It's 2 am, the shifts are switching because I'm tired and can't think straight right now. I'll fix it tomorrow.

""Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies."

― Dorothy Allison, Bastard Out of Carolina

 _"Was it necessary to tell me that you wanted nothing in the world but me?'_

 _The corners of his mouth drooped peevishly._

 _Oh, my dear, it's rather hard to take quite literally the things a man says when he's in love with you.'_

 _Didn't you mean them?'_

 _At the moment."_

 _W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil_

 _Chapter 20 Collapsing Masquerade_

* * *

He was dreaming, falling through a menagerie of colors, sights, sounds and other things that the unconscious mind produces to entertain itself while in a state of catatonia to imitate death for only eight hours a day-and did he mention that his brain reached for drugs every time it dreamed? Because it sure as fuck did in this one.

He was dancing with a person whose face he could not see. As the dream went on, he noticed that all of the other dancers had their faces masked. Was this some type of masquerade? As the dream progressed, things became stranger and stranger.

The people came closer and closer to him, for some reason they were all wearing the same clothing. It was then that he stripped off the mask of the person and found a blank marionette with his hair on it, mindlessly dancing, before grabbing his arms.

"What do you want to be tonight?" It asked, its voice a ghostly, ethereal tone, drifting all around the room.

Horrified, he turned to the next dancer. "Why is there a marionette?"

The next dancer looked at him...revealing a blank face there as well, stalking toward him. "...Tell us what you want us to be. Should I be the happy one?"

"Should I be the sad one?" The one behind him said, advancing its arms out toward him.

"Should I be the scared one?"

"Should I be the excited one?"

"Should I be the angry one?"

"Should I be the jealous one?"

"Should I be the murderous one?"

Their voices echoed in his head as he ran and ran, but all of the dancers were nothing but blank, faceless marionettes, chasing him, cornering him against the wall, as their hands danced over his body.

"Are you afraid? Are you afraid? Are you afraid?"

"Shut up." He growled.

The mannequins suddenly donned yellow scarves and taunted him. "Afraid of yourself? Afraid of the past? Afraid of the future?"

"GET THE FUCK AWAY!" He snapped, slashing and tearing at the mannequins, as he tore through each one, he swore he heard bones snapping.

When he looked down at the ground, he saw thousands of copies of himself, lying there, blood dripping out from under them, coating the entire floor a bright red.

Their faces were empty.

Blinking, he turned to run, only to be grabbed by another one.

This time, it had a face and was an image of a broken and bloodied Kida. "Don't forget yourself. Do not forget us. We do not forget you."

He shook before fleeing, but then the entire ballroom broke apart, and he was falling, falling through the air, before he suddenly found himself face to face with Mikado.

"Mikado, thank god-"

But Mikado turned and he, too, was a mannequin.

The mannequin looked at him. "Who do you want me to be?" It said, holding a knife, before stabbing Kida right in the heart, only for the shadows to reach out and ensnare the mannequin and strangle it before his eyes.

The dark figure dropped down in front of him, shielding him from the nightmares. " ** _Are you all right?_** " He asked one simple question.

Kida shook his head as a no. "No...what the fuck was that?"

"The epitome of your inner self. In other words, your lies are consuming you. Don't you believe it's time you told them the truth?"

"They can't know. There's no way in fuck they'd possibly know."

It is then that he awakens.

* * *

A red-haired figure is there by his bedside, looking at him in concern.

"Alibaba-san, are you all right? You were screaming in your sleep."

"I'm just fine." He says gruffly, pushing past her gently.

"Alibaba-san, are you ok?" She asks.

"I'm always fine." He says, smiling forcefully.

It is then that he returns to his room a short time later to his journal and begins writing in it. Seeing some older pieces of writing, he throws them to the side, balling them up and forgetting about concealing them.

He hides his journal as usual and all is well.

Or so he thinks.

It is then that all falls apart.

For when he comes back from doing his excursions, Morgiana is standing before him, her arms folded.

* * *

"Explain." She says.

"Explain _what?_ " He asks, playing dumb.

"Don't play dumb. Where have you been? You've been gone for nearly a day."

"It doesn't matter." He says evasively.

"It does matter. Do you know how worried Aladdin was about you?"

The blue-haired boy nods, looking at him with his eyes wet with tears.

"Tell him to worry elsewhere." He mutters, pushing past Morgiana, "I always tell you guys the truth, don't I?"

At that second, she kicks the ground, cracking it before suddenly kicking him.

"Morgiana, what was that for?" He says, acting bewildered and confused.

"How about reading these and seeing why I'm acting this way." She said coldly before handing him the balled up pieces of journal paper, frowning at him. Her glare is one of the most paralyzing things he's ever seen.

Ah, just the usual missives about him not being able to trust in the others or being like them. Then his eyes alight on a personal letter he wrote to Mikado, and his fists tighten. What in the world did she think she was doing, intruding in his privacy like this?

The happy expression fell off his face, being replaced with a look of anger.

"Where did you get those?" He snapped.

"Well, you had them thrown away." She retorted.

"And you thought it perfectly okay to go through someone else's personal stuff?" He snapped.

"Why were you keeping secrets?" She asked.

"I'm not keeping secrets!" His face flushed scarlet. "Everyone holds things back. If everyone told everyone everything about themselves, it'd be!"

"It'd be what? I told you about my being a slave, and you were okay with it. I told you about being a Fanalis and you were okay with that. Aladdin told you about who he really is, but somehow you can't tell us anything? We just read in your diaries that you were talking to someone we don't even know, who you never even bothered to tell us about-" She rambled on and on about shit he doesn't even care to hear about, until she mentions him.

"That's not-" He begins, but she continues.

"Someone who might not even be a good person-"

"O-Of course he is!" He interjects, wishing she'd just shut up already, the rage is building within.

"Someone who could be after your life-"

"N-No, you've got it all wrong, he's-"

He has to be dreaming. How is his mask failing?

How? How? How?

"Calling yourself worthless and weak, saying you're lying to us and holding things back, how do you think we're supposed to feel? Do you think we're supposed to be happy? Happy that you're not really happy? I always thought you would tell me everything. Alibaba, tell us the truth. What is all this about? Who are you writing to, and this person, what if he were out to do you harm-"

He snaps, in one fluid motion his pupils dilate, and he's suddenly grabbing her arm hard, glaring at her, his face rigid and emotionless.

"Morgiana...don't you ever say something like that again." He says, coldly.

She shudders. "Let go of me."

"He would never harm me! Don't you ever insult him again!" He booms, letting go of her, wiping tears away from his face, why is he crying?

"Who are you writing to?"

"No one! Someone I can never see again, didn't you fucking read it?" He snapped.

Ah, they're afraid of him. This is so typical, so pointless, he should just leave.

"I don't get what you mean."

"You don't have to."

"Yes, I have to."

Goddamn women.

"Some things aren't meant to be known. You don't just snoop around in other people's business." There, that ought to make them satisfied.

"Well, then, where have you been all day?" She asks.

"That's a...that's a...secret. I..."

"If you really value us as friends, shouldn't you tell us what's bothering you? How are we supposed to help, Alibaba-kun?" Aladdin asked.

He froze, before he suddenly spoke in Japanese, for the first time in forever.

"What did you say?" Morgiana asked, looking stunned.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go. Please leave me alone." He blinked, "Did I just..."

"Speak in another language? Yeah, where did you learn it?" Morgiana asked, cracking the ground.

"It's my...native tongue." He said, looking at the ground.

The world seems to be slipping out from under him.

What is happening?

"Why didn't you tell us you knew another language?"

The mask is getting heavier to wear.

"Reasons."

"Like what?"

"It's complicated. I can't hope to explain everything."

"You can, tell me, what's going on with you? We're your friends, aren't we?" Morgiana grabbed his shoulders. Still, he did not react.

"If you stick with me, you'll just die. So what's the point in having you know anything? You're just _temporary_ friends that will leave me once you know everything. So I-"

The next thing he felt was a world of pain as she slapped him in the face.

"Heh, not bad." He muttered, " _Do it again. I dare you._ "

She looked at him. "Tell us why you decided to lie."

"It wasn't my choice. I had no choice. Just shut up, Morgiana. You have no way of understanding anything. I just can't..." He said, his voice still calm but cracking. The mask is slipping out from under him.

And then he broke.

"Don't make me...don't make me think about it again! I don't want to remember anything!" He yelled. Unfortunately he is crying. Fuck.

She looked at him.

"You can't understand a thing about me." He said, looking at her while sneering. "You can't, so why try?"

Then she hits him again.

"Feisty, just like how I like them." He said, "Just go ahead and kill me."

She stalked off to the side. "Right."

"I'm sure you're both confused. So let me just begin." He said.

"She's awfully disappointed in you, Alibaba-kun." Aladdin said, and his words stung more than hers did.

"No one's more disappointed in me than myself. That's right, you're seeing the true side of Alibaba-nothing but a bitter, broken coward. I'm not the hero you think I am, I just pretend."

"That's not true, Alibaba-kun."

" _Yes, it is! All of it has been nothing but a grand game of pretend, of make-believe! I made you believe I was a grand hero, the kindest person of all time, someone so worth believing in and trusting in! Why don't you just return to believing in that? There's no point in thinking otherwise."_ He said softly.

Aladdin just looked at him. "You what?" He asked.

He starts laughing, holding his sides. "I used you guys. I lied to you endlessly. Why aren't you running? You should be running. I'm just an empty person on the inside."

"Stop saying that! That's not true, you could never use us!"

"But of course I have been. I have been from the very start." He said snidely. "You're just too nice, Aladdin. Just too nice to see that some people wear masks. Well, now mine is broken. Like what you fucking see?" He snapped.

"...Coward." Morgiana said.

"Of course I am. It's human nature to be this way." He said, shuffling, "But if you think you know everything about me, you're sorely mistaken."

"You told me you were born with your mother in the slums-"

 **"That was a lie**! All of it...was nothing but a lie." He said, putting his head in his hands to hide his face. Sociopaths like him shouldn't be crying. Not at all.

"I was hoping I could destroy that stuff. Why did you have to resurrect those demons? I don't want to think about them."

"Alibaba-kun!" Aladdin cried.

"I guess I should tell you about me first."

"What about you? You're Alibaba Saluja, a royal prince, born to Anise-"

 _"No._ "

"Your father is Rashid Saluja."

 _"No."_

"Your brothers are-"

"They're not even my real brothers by blood." He spat.

They looked at him.

"Of course it's true. The truth is, I'm not like you guys. I don't belong here. I'm not even... _supposed to exist here._ " He said, staring at his fingernails.

Why is the truth slipping out of him like sand slipping through his fingers?*

"Alibaba-kun?"

"I'm just disappointed in your behavior." Morgiana said.

"I figured. I disappoint everybody. But that's my lot in life. I'm just a _yellow_ coward. Let me tell you the truth. I'm not even from this world. I'm not from this goddamned reality, whatever you want to call it. I'm from somewhere else."

"Are you serious?" Aladdin asked.

"Yes, and my real name isn't Alibaba, either. Everything you know is a lie. So what do you have to say?" His eyes were daring them to abandon him, to look away from him.

"Just...tell us the truth."

"I will." He said, "The story of my true and pathetic self starts here. Will you listen to the tale of someone without a soul?"

"What do you mean?" Aladdin asked.

He blinked. "I guess I should drop the second bomb. Do you have any idea of what a sociopath is?"


	21. Chapter 21 The past meets the future

A/N: It has been forever since I could update this fic! However, I am happy to report that I have regained my hand strength back thanks to therapy. I am doing better and some occasional tingling and numbness persists but it is getting better. Still have to write shorter chapters so this long-ass chapter I wanted to write has to wait, so instead is a filler chapter that's shorter. Sorry but cts doesn't heal easily. Still got some things to work out for school, too...

Anyway, this will be a flashback to his days on the streets to his teenage years "serving" in the royal family. Idk how well they can recognize a sociopath back then but tbh weren't most of them pretty abnormal?

Chapter 21 Flashback to the Past

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The maid in the Saluja room had a simple duty-clean up after the prince and the older one and that was all. She cleaned up their dirty garments and washed them as she was supposed to, without a comment about anything. She went about her duties as a silent observer, never really speaking-no one told her to. No one even asked her name. As great as this place was, it really was good at enforcing silence in its inferiors.

The King was a gentle but firm man, he was gentle to his subordinates and servants, she knew that much from watching him. However, he was still the king and that was an undisputed barrier between them that could never be crossed.

The princes were simply the worst. Sabhmad, the older one was terrified of talking to people, so he did not, while Abhmad was rude, arrogant and spoiled. He would make a good prince, she thought, people were afraid of him and did what was asked of them. Still, she didn't like having to clean up after him, he would sometimes hit on her, but since she was a mere servant she couldn't say no.

Whatever his highness wished for was his.

Then there was the third one, the newest one-clearly adopted, she knew this wasn't the king's child, no matter what he said. He kept to himself and spoke to no one, pretty much creating an air of mystery about him that intrigued the staff.

She did not try to find out about him, at least, not intentionally. She had her duties to tend to and babysitting the King's princes was best left to his tutors. However, the tutors for the third boy refused to teach him anything and complained of his rebellious nature. She wondered whether being silent was a crime for a prince, it saved her life as a servant, after all. He knew he had no place here, she supposed.

Then, when she encountered him, she questioned everything Abhmad had told her about him. Of course, not told-more like he was just grumbling about him when he was asleep.

She found the enigmatic one seated on his bed, just staring out at nothing. He was young, probably about fourteen or fifteen, with blond hair that looked like His Majesty's hair but not definitely.

She crept into his room, collecting some of his soiled clothing, and fearfully tiptoeing out, when the boy spoke, in a calm, quiet voice, with nearly no emotion in it (a strange condition, was he just good at hiding his feelings?)

"Why are you in here?" It wasn't laced with animosity, just genuine curiosity. His eyes bore into hers, and she looked away uncomfortably, as he kept staring at her without blinking. It was an unusual sight. His eyes seemed to see everything about her and yet nothing at all.

What a contradictory gaze.

"I came in to get your clothing, Your Majesty." She began.

The boy looked at her before sighing. "Don't call me that."

She blinked in surprise. She wasn't expecting that, "But, your highness-"

"Just take them and go, if you want." He said tonelessly, his gaze again on her.

She found herself curious and at the same time repulsed by his actions. She took the clothing and hurried out, all the while feeling his gaze on hers, never ending.

It was then and there, one night, that she noticed that the window was open and the prince was gone. She panicked, nearly screamed, but caught herself.

Wherever he had gone, he was back again by the next morning, and she tried to avoid him. However, instead she had gained a new follower in Abhmad, who kept harassing her with attention.

"I want you to be my bride." He said to her, touching her shoulder. "Be mine and be mine only."

As she resisted his efforts, she noticed a door open and someone look out quickly before quickly closing it again.

She managed to at last escape Abhmad when he was distracted by his brother and decided to bully him next.

She didn't even notice the prince slip underneath the table the next morning and drop a few pieces of ground up apple seeds into Abhmad's drink.

That day, Abhmad was suddenly seriously ill, and threw up a lot. She wondered if the food had gone bad, or if worse, someone was trying to poison the royals.

"She poisoned me!" The prince shouted.

It was then that she saw the third prince. He was watching her intently, as if asking, will you tell?

No, he couldn't have-did he-

But, her pleas were futile. She was executed for attempting to poison a prince and the boy went on, feeling nothing for her death except thinking that maybe the poison attempt was stupid and he could have done something better.

So it was indeed that Kida's attempts to murder his adopted "older brother" failed. The cyanide was not detected, true to its nature. He refused to accept drinks that weren't his and always kept himself safe, no matter what.

Occasionally, the homicidal urges took over. When that happened, he left. For how long, no one knew. For Kida was an expert at sneaking around, being taught from that from hiding from his mother.

One day, he'd come across some scum busy with some rather disgusting acts involving a minor. Needless to say, he'd taken care of that lot when he could.

He disappeared from that life as soon as he could.

Being in touch there with royalty taught him several things: first of all, royals were disgusting, insane, sadistic creatures, and he couldn't trust them worth a damn. Second, most of them would use and manipulate him. Therefore, he had to manipulate them beforehand. No matter what he had to use or lose to get there, he would return to his lover.

"I suppose..." He said, resuming from the present, "That it all started when I was born."


End file.
